A Mobile Robot Driven by Miniature Onboard Motors for Cardiac Intervention
Presented at the 34th Annual Northeast Bioengineering Conference. 2008; 9-10.
by P. Allen, N. Patronik and C. Riviere of the The Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University, and M. Zenati of the Division of Cardiac Surgery at the University of Pittsburgh
This paper describes the development and construction of a mobile robot driven by miniature ultrasonic piezoelectric motors (SQUIGGLE motors) for minimally invasive cardiac therapy. The robot design extends upon previous prototypes of HeartLander miniature mobile robot that moves in an inchworm-like fashion.
The HeartLander OMNI (Onboard Motor Navigational Instrument) has been developed to reduce tether stiffness by utilizing small onboard motors (SQUIGGLE motors), which would result in more efficient turning capability by eliminating the drive-wire mechanism from the tether of the robot. The development of the robot allows for increased turning capability and higher traction during locomotion, and represents the first step in designing a wireless mobile robot for cardiac therapy.
The robotic design was developed as a proof of concept to demonstrate mobility on the cardiac surface. Construction of the system included motor selection, body design, and development of the control system. This paper presents the design of the robotic platform and preliminary testing results in vitro.
