Abstract
In this study, the authors developed a novel active guidewire including a spiral-type magnetic microrobot and ball joint to realize active locomotion and improve the steering capability within external magnetic fields. Most active guidewires provide only steering ability without active locomotion, and their steering angles depend on the physical properties of the wire. The developed mechanism provides a wider range of steering angles because the total steering angle is the sum of the joint angle and wire angle. To evaluate the performance of the proposed mechanism, we compared and analyzed the steering and active locomotion in a dc field and rotating magnetic field in conditions involving and not involving the ball joint mechanisms. At a low magnetic field strength (up to 4 kA/m), considerable improvement in the steering angle owing to the use of the ball joint was noted. The dc and rotating fields with an intensity of 8 kA/m generated peak steering angles of 189° and 135°, respectively. Various experiments were conducted, and the results confirmed that the proposed mechanism could improve the steering ability while realizing active locomotion. In particular, the steering stability and movement ability corresponding to different types of magnetic fields could be analyzed.
Highlights
Magnetically actuated microrobots have been developed for biomedical applications [1]–[5]; In particular, owing to their small size and ability to be wirelessly controlled without the need for implanted batteries, magnetic microrobots can be applied to minimally invasive treatments to enable diagnosis and therapy in medicine, such as for sensing, targeted drug delivery, hyperthermia, active guidewire applications, and performance of biopsy [6]–[11]
BALL JOINT-BASED END-EFFECTRO FOR ENHANCEMENT OF STEERING We proposed a novel active guidewire mechanism that employs a ball joint mechanism with a spiral-type magnetic microrobot to improve the steering angle of active guidewire as well as active locomotion
The total steering angle is the sum of the joint angle and the wire angle, and the wire angle depends on the distance between the tip and the bending point at constant flexibility
Summary
Actuated microrobots have been developed for biomedical applications [1]–[5]; In particular, owing to their small size and ability to be wirelessly controlled without the need for implanted batteries, magnetic microrobots can be applied to minimally invasive treatments to enable diagnosis and therapy in medicine, such as for sensing, targeted drug delivery, hyperthermia, active guidewire applications, and performance of biopsy [6]–[11]. We have improved the steering angle and verified the active movement using the proposed mechanism at a low magnetic field strength.
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