Abstract
The application of force in surgical settings is typically accomplished via physical tethers to the surgical tool. While physical tethers are common and critical, some internal surgical procedures may benefit from a tetherless operation of needles, possibly reducing the number of ports in the patient or the amount of tissue damage caused by tools used to manipulate needles. Magnetic field gradients can dynamically apply kinetic forces to magnetizable objects free of such tethers, possibly enabling ultra-minimally invasive robotic surgical procedures. We demonstrate the untethered manipulation of a suture needle in vitro, exemplified by steering through narrow holes, as well as needle penetration through excised rat and human tissues. We present proof of principle manipulations for the fully untethered control of a minimally modified, standard stainless steel surgical suture needle.
Highlights
IntroductionCritical, and routine component of surgical procedures and wound closure
Accepted: 23 November 2021Suturing is a longstanding, critical, and routine component of surgical procedures and wound closure
Using a magnetic system similar to that used in our previous work [9,31,32], we demonstrate the manipulation of a standard suture needle with an attached suture thread using an array of up to five electromagnets
Summary
Critical, and routine component of surgical procedures and wound closure. Recent efforts have magnetically actuated surgical tools such as organ retractors [18,19], endoscopic cameras [20,21,22], catheters [23,24], and drug delivery robots [25] for enabling minimally invasive procedures As it stands, suturing is still a “tethered” technology in which the suture needle is manipulated via mechanically contacting the needle using fingers or robotic end-effectors for physically grasping, pushing, pulling, wiggling, or twisting the suture needle. We use the fifth coil to tilt the needle out of the plane of the Petri dish so as to enable moving the needle over and under the suture thread for tying a knot Using this smaller system, we demonstrate the ability to steer the needle around fixed structures, stitch together adjacent sections of plastic, and (separately) penetrate a segment of rat intestine and a segment of human skin ex vivo. NdFeB hard magnet modifications, and the first demonstration using MagnetoSutureTM to generate an out-of-plane motion for tilting the suture needle so as to tie a rudimentary knot
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