Designing Patient Specific Magnetically Actuated Tentacle Robots for Minimally Invasive Surgery

Currently, we are limited in the tools available to reach deep inside the human body in a non-invasive manner, patients therefore may not have the option to be assessed or treated for life-threatening diseases. The long-term vision of this work is to provide surgeons with the capability to administer care with the aid of soft magnetic manipulators. The operator, needing minimally invasive access to a specific site via a complex winding pathway will be able to design personalized manipulators and fabricate them on demand. Magnetic control will allow the manipulators to be extremely soft and thin. Controlling the position of multiple anchor points along the length of the manipulator will allow
shape forming for tortuous curvilinear trajectories without exerting significant pressure on surrounding tissues. Full-body control will also provide the ability to stiffen part of the manipulator to accomplish specific surgical tasks that need structural rigidity.
In this thesis, this vision has been taken and soft, shape forming, magnetic manipulators have been developed. Novel modelling, simulation, optimization and fabrication techniques have been established as well as the introduction and demonstration of the concept of material reinforcement for magnetic actuation. Tentacles down to 2 mm diameter have been produced which are currently capable of semi-autonomous, low contact navigation into tortuous, soft phantoms of the digestive and respiratory anatomy - areas of the body which cannot easily be accessed using traditional minimally invasive methods.
Whilst there remain many developments to be made, significant and meaningful progress has been demonstrated here on the journey towards autonomous follow-the-leader navigation. It is hoped that this work and any which develop onwards from it will continue to enable miniaturized magnetic endoluminal navigation and thus contribute to the continued progress of medical diagnostics and treatment.