A robotic catheter system for MRI-guided cardiac electrophysiological intervention
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques allow intra-operative monitoring of the ablation procedure during cardiovascular electrophysiology (EP). However, currently it is still challenging to carry out effective catheterization under MRI environment. We present an MR-safe robot for intra-cardiac EP intervention. The robot actuation features small hysteresis, effective force transmission and quick response. Experimental evaluation has verified its capability to precisely tele-manipulate a standard clinically used EP catheter. The slave part of the robot is made of non-metallic MR-safe materials, therefore can operate close to or inside the MRI scanner without adversely affecting the MR image quality.