Effect multi-electrode ablation catheter angle on electrode-tissue contact measurement

Introduction Sudden cardiac death is one of the major deaths worldwide. Several treatments are available to lower risks of sudden cardiac deaths. Atrial fibrillation is one of the leading causes for sudden cardiac deaths. Atrial fibrillation can be treated with drugs or with procedures or surgeries. Catheter ablation is one of these procedures....

Circular Economy Impact Analysis Model for Image Guided Therapy Devices

The healthcare sector contributes significantly to humanity’s environmental impact on our planet. The circular economy (CE) has been heralded as a solution addressing its economic and environmental challenges by promoting more efficient use of materials. Stakeholders throughout the entire industry need to adapt their...

Steerable and Reusable Bipolar Vessel Sealer: Design, Development and Validation

A new radical design approach arose from the need to develop a bipolar electrosurgical instrument that is modular and cleanable, thus reusable and therefore suitable for low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Advanced Bipolar Vessel Sealer (BVS) instruments that are currently on the market cannot be cleaned or maintained well and are...

Development of a non-assembly 3D printed driving mechanism for a vitreous cutter

During a vitrectomy procedure vitreous is removed from the eye with a vitreous cutter, called a vitrectome. This instrument is comprised of two needles that move to cut the vitreous into small pieces before aspirating them. Vitreous cutters are complex instruments that are light and small in size to increase their accuracy. Because of their...

Optical performance and drilling forces of an orthopaedic DRS drill with a stagnant optical probe

Introduction. In spinal surgery, the misplacement of spinal screws is a problem that causes (severe) pain, bleedings or even paralysis [2]. Screw misplacements are common as navigating in the spine is difficult due to the small vertebral dimensions and a lack of anatomical landmarks [3] [4]. In order to improve the navigational support of spine...

Optical performance and drilling forces of an orthopaedic DRS drill with a stagnant optical probe (Article): An article on a Biomedical Engineering Master thesis about orthopaedic DRS drilling at the Delft University of Technology

In spinal surgery, the misplacement of spinal screws is a common problem that causes (severe) pain, bleedings or even paralysis [1] [2] [3]. In order to improve the navigational support of spine surgeons, this research focuses on the development of an optical sensing diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) orthopaedic drill that identifies bone...

MemoSnake: Design and analysis of a snake-like system with mechanical shape control

Introduction: When navigating through tight and delicate environments, steerable tools are highly desired. Follow-the-leader locomotion, as in the biological snake, is a solution that is obtained with shape memory control. The often used electric equipment to control the shape makes the current state-of-the-art of snake-like robots too complex....

Inflicted Head Injury by Shaking Trauma in Infants: Part I: The potential effect of spatiotemporal variation of the rotation center on injury mechanisms. Part II:The importance of spatiotemporal variation of the rotation center when modeling external head-dynamics

Part I:<br/>Inflicted head injury by shaking trauma (IHI-ST) is often simulated to better understand the injury mechanisms and to analyze whether violent shaking can cause head injury in infants. Computational models are usually subjected to linear and rotational inputs to simulate shaking scenarios. In existing studies, the head’s rotation...

Fluorescence guided surgery using an EGFR targeting antibody

Survival in lung cancer patients relies on correct intraoperative identification and resection of lung nodules. We hypothesize that epidermal growth factor receptor-targeted (EGFR) intraoperative molecular imaging can help improve localization of lung nodules. In a clinical study, we evaluated the use of panitumumab-IRDye800 to determine if...

Towards efficient perfusion recellularization of porcine liver grafts with liver-derived organoids

Currently, the only effective treatment for end-stage liver diseases is liver transplantation. However, the waiting list with patients who are in need of a new liver is long, because too few good-quality donor livers are available. New techniques in the field of tissue engineering are being investigated to create a reconstructed liver, which...

Design and evaluation of an ergonomic handle for a steerable arthroscopic cutter: applying the human factor engineering framework to improve ergonomics

Every year over 30.000 patients in the Netherlands alone are operated to repair a damaged meniscus. Damage to the meniscus occurs due to a combination of excessive torque and compression forces on the knee joint. The current arthroscopic cutters that are used during meniscectomies can only reach limited areas of the meniscus. During the...

Medical instruments identi cation via a luminescent micro-particle coating as an alternative for existing identi cation methods

Medical Asset Management (MAM), track and tracing of medical instruments throughout a hospital, is very comprehensive and complicated. To implement such a system on individual instrument level, a technique that can create Unique Device Identification (UDI) codes is needed. Current UDI systems, such as RFID and barcode scanning, do not suffice....

On the mimicking of geckos and tree frogs for adhering to soft substrates

<b>Background</b>: Soft-tissue grip is a challenge in minimally invasive surgery. Grasping instruments used in clinical practice require high pinch forces in order to generate sufficient grip for manipulating soft tissue without slipping.<br/>In nature, several animals employ adhesion in order to grip on, not only hard, but also soft substrates....

Rinsing of complex conduit geometries in implanted insulin infusion devices: Effectiveness of removing insulin precipitates from conduits

Implanted intra-peritoneal insulin infusion (‘i4’) devices administer insulin into the peritoneum of diabetic patients with extreme blood glucose swings, that are highly difficult to control. The flushing procedures of i4 devices to clear obstructions from its conduits caused by insulin degradation are not always fully effective. The goal of...