Toward Autonomous Cannulation in Endovascular Intervention

近年来，学术界和工业界提出了许多用于血管内介入的机器人系统。这些遥操作平台通常由主机器人和从机器人组成。因此，该设备架构解决了机器人自主性的低水平。新型机器人平台的例子有Magellan和Sensei X2（Auris Health，美国）、R-one（Robocath，法国）、CorPath GRX（Corindus，美国）、CathBot（Imperial College伦敦，英国）。除此之外，新的主界面被描述为优化的遥操作反馈，透明度和可用性。或者，标准导管的手动操作在没有反馈的情况下被感知，并被复制到远程从平台。此外，从运动学的设计解决了用于仪器操纵的不同机电配置，即，平移/旋转和耦合接口。在所有这些方面，机器学习已被用于改进辅助功能，其中包括深度学习应用程序，以处理跟踪所隐含的挑战。这些功能允许开发更高水平的自主性。这个博士项目旨在开发基于机器学习，生物电定位和机器人技术的自主插管和跟踪解决方案。新颖的自主插管和跟踪技术将在最先进的机器人转向系统中进行演示，用于合作导管插入。该系统将具有多个自由度以精确控制插入过程，触觉反馈以改善用户体验，并可选择手动或自动机器人插入。结果将是一种新颖的，自主的和无辐射的血管手术系统。

Recently, many robotic systems for endovascular intervention have been proposedin academia or industry. These teleoperation platforms commonlyconsist of master and slave robots. Hence, the device architectures addresslow levels of robotic autonomy. Examples of novel robotic platforms areMagellan and Sensei X2 (AurisHealth, USA), R-one (Robocath, France),CorPath GRX (Corindus, USA), CathBot (Imperial College London, UK).Clinical trials demonstrated the applicability of different platforms. Beyondthat, novel master interfaces were described for optimised teleoperation feedback,transparency, and usability. Alternatively, manual manipulation ofstandard catheters was sensed without feedback and was replicated to aremote slave platform. Furthermore, designs of slave kinematics addresseddifferent electromechanical configurations for instrument manipulation, i.e.,translation/rotation, and coupling interfaces. Within all those aspects, machinelearning has been used to improve the assistive features which includedeep learning applications to handle the tracking challenges implied by thesystem. Those features allow the development of higher levels of autonomy.This PhD project aims to develop autonomous cannulation and tracking solutionsbased on machine learning, bioelectrical localization, and robotics.The novel autonomous cannulation and tracking technology will be incorporatedwithin a state-of-the-art robotic steering system for cooperativecatheter insertion. The system will feature multiple degrees of freedom toaccurately control the insertion process, haptic feedback for an improveduser experience, and the option for manual or autonomous robotic insertion.The result will be a novel, autonomous, and radiation-free system forendovascular surgery.