Development of a Handheld Actuation Mechanism for a Tendon-driven Robotically Steered Guidewire
2026-07-27 • Robotics
Robotics
AI summaryⓘ
The authors created a handheld device that helps doctors steer thin wires inside blood vessels more easily and safely during procedures. These wires, called guidewires, can be hard to control because blood vessels twist and bend a lot. Their device uses motors and a special spooling mechanism to let doctors steer, rotate, and move the wire precisely while still allowing manual control. They tested the device on a realistic model of a human aorta to show how it works. This technology aims to reduce complications during vascular procedures by improving guidewire navigation.
guidewireendovascular interventionvascular anatomyrobotic steeringtendon-driven mechanismspooling mechanismmanual rotationanatomical phantomaorta modelinterventional device
Authors
Saima Chavenet, Timothy A. Brumfiel, Revanth Konda, Jaydev P. Desai
Abstract
An endovascular intervention begins with a skilled clinician manually navigating a long, slender wire, called a guidewire, to the target location within the vasculature. Due to factors, such as vessel tortuosity and lack of steerability at the guidewire tip, manual navigation of a guidewire could be challenging, potentially resulting in vessel damage, perforation, dissection, and occlusion, as well as postsurgical complications, such as thrombosis. This work details the development of a handheld actuation mechanism for tendon-driven robotic guidewires by utilizing the aforementioned spooling mechanism. Incorporating the compact spooling mechanism into a handheld device enables clinicians to leverage both motorized guidewire steering and manual rotation and translation, if desired. The proposed device is designed such that, while holding the device, the clinician can execute feeding, rotation, and bending motions for up to 1.5 m of the robotically steerable guidewire using a joystick and momentary switch on the handle. Furthermore, the proposed device is demonstrated through navigation in an anatomically accurate phantom aorta model.