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bioRxiv · 10.1101/2024.09.22.614377

Steerable Tape-Spring Needle for Autonomous Sharp Turns Through Tissue

Abdoun, O.·Tjandra, D.·Yin, K.·Kurzan, P.·Yin, J.·Yim, M.
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Abstract

Steerable needles offer a minimally invasive method to deliver treatment to hard-to-reach tissue regions. We introduce a new class of tape-spring steerable needles capable of sharp turns ranging from 15 to 150 degrees with a turn radius as low as 3mm, which minimizes surrounding tissue damage. In this work, we derive and experimentally validate a geometric model for our steerable needle design. We evaluate both manual and robotic steering of the needle along a Dubins path in 7 kPa and 13 kPa tissue phantoms, simulating our target clinical application in healthy and unhealthy liver tissue. We conduct experiments to measure needle robustness to stiffness transitions between non-homogeneous tissues. We demonstrate progress towards clinical use with needle tip tracking via ultrasound imaging, navigation around anatomical obstacles, and integration with a robotic autonomous steering system.

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Abdoun, O., Tjandra, D., Yin, K., Kurzan, P., Yin, J., Yim, M.. 2024-09-24. Steerable Tape-Spring Needle for Autonomous Sharp Turns Through Tissue. https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.09.22.614377

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