A review on machine learning in flexible surgical and interventional robots: Where we are and where we are going

Minimally Invasive Procedures (MIPs) emerged as an alternative to more invasive surgical approaches, offering patient benefits such as smaller incisions, less pain, and shorter hospital stay. In one class of MIPs, where natural body lumens or small incisions are used to access deeper anatomical locations, Flexible Surgical and Interventional...

Deep-Learning-Based Compliant Motion Control of a Pneumatically-Driven Robotic Catheter

In cardiovascular interventions, when steering catheters and especially robotic catheters, great care should be paid to prevent applying too large forces on the vessel walls as this could dislodge calcifications, induce scars or even cause perforation. To address this challenge, this paper presents a novel compliant motion control algorithm...

Deep-learning-based Position Control of a Robotic Catheter under Environmental Contact

Precise control of robotic catheters remains challenging in interventions. Inherent non-linearities such as hysteresis and external disturbances such as blood flow or contact with the vessel walls have a large impact on the reachable positioning precision. As inaccurate positioning of the catheter tip could lead to tissue damage, controllers...