Navigation of a magnetic micro-robot through a cerebral aneurysm phantom with magnetic particle imaging

Abstract Cerebral aneurysms are potentially life threatening and nowadays treated by a catheter-guided coiling or by a neurosurgical clipping intervention. Here, we propose a helically shaped magnetic micro-robot, which can be steered by magnetic fields in an untethered manner and could be applied f...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Anna C. Bakenecker, Anselm von Gladiss, Hannes Schwenke, André Behrends, Thomas Friedrich, Kerstin Lüdtke-Buzug, Alexander Neumann, Joerg Barkhausen, Franz Wegner, Thorsten M. Buzug
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Nature Portfolio 2021-07-01
Series:Scientific Reports
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-93323-4
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Summary:Abstract Cerebral aneurysms are potentially life threatening and nowadays treated by a catheter-guided coiling or by a neurosurgical clipping intervention. Here, we propose a helically shaped magnetic micro-robot, which can be steered by magnetic fields in an untethered manner and could be applied for a novel coiling procedure. This is shown by navigating the micro-robot through an additively manufactured phantom of a human cerebral aneurysm. The magnetic fields are applied with a magnetic particle imaging (MPI) scanner, which allows for the navigation and tomographic visualization by the same machine. With MPI the actuation process can be visualized with a localization accuracy of 0.68 mm and an angiogram can be acquired both without any radiation exposure. First in-vitro phantom experiments are presented, showing an idea of a robot conducted treatment of cerebral aneurysms.
ISSN:2045-2322