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MIT engineers have developed a wire-like robot that can slide into the narrow blood vessels of the human brain. the magnetically controlled device could allow doctors to remotely deliver clot-reducing treatments in response to a stroke or other blockages in the brain.
nicknamed "robo-thread," this technology is designed to treat blockages and lesions, such as those that occur in aneurysms and strokes. this would imply a minimally invasive surgical procedure to insert the fine wire through the patient's main artery.
MIT engineers have developed a robotic wire (in black) that can be magnetically directed and is small enough to work in tight spaces such as the vascularization of the human brain.
images courtesy of MIT
With the help of a fluoroscope that simultaneously analyzes the blood vessels using X-rays, the surgeon then manually rotates the wire into the damaged brain vessel. a catheter can then be threaded along the wire to deliver drugs or clot retrieval devices to the affected region.
"Stroke is the fifth leading cause of death and one of the leading causes of disability in the United States" said xuanhe zhao, associate professor of mechanical engineering and civil and environmental engineering at MIT. "If an acute stroke can be treated in the first approximately 90 minutes, the survival rate of patients could increase dramatically."
"If we could design a device to reverse the blockage of blood vessels during this" golden hour ", we could potentially avoid irreversible brain damage. it's our hope. "
The researchers believe that this technology could be used in the future to eliminate blockages in patients with stroke or aneurysm.
medical guide wires typically used in such procedures must be handled manually and therefore require a specially trained surgeon to withstand repeated exposure to radiation by radioscopy. A magnetically-guided guidewire eliminates the need for surgeons physically pushing a wire into the patient's blood vessels, which means that the physician does not need to be near a patient and the fluoroscope generating radiation.
these son are generally made of a core of metal alloys coated with polymer. It is therefore possible that the friction and the coatings of the vessels are damaged if the wire remains stuck temporarily in a particularly restricted space. MIT's research focuses on the use of freshwater-based hydrogen and magnetism-controlled 3D printed materials. A soft snake-like robot has a nickel-titanium alloy at the center that is both flexible and elastic. The team covered the core of the wire with a rubbery paste, or ink, in which they incorporated magnetic particles.
researchers thread the robotic yarn through an obstacle course consisting of small rings reminiscent of a thread sneaking into the eye of a needle
MIT has demonstrated the precision of the robotic wire by using a large magnet to guide it through an obstacle course of small rings. this is described as being similar to guiding a thread through the eye of a needle. The researchers also tested the lead in a life-size silicone replica of the major blood vessels of the brain, modeled on a patient's brain scan.
"One of the challenges of surgery has been navigating complex blood vessels in the brain, of very small diameter, where commercial catheters can not reach", kyujin cho, professor of mechanical engineering at the National University of Seoul. "This research has shown potential to overcome this challenge and allow surgery in the brain without open surgery."
project information
research organization: MIT
project: robo-thread
Kieron Marchese I designboom
Sep 03, 2019
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