Steerable laser ablation therapy robot

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2025107861-A1
Application number	US-202418899942-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Sep 27, 2024
Priority date	Sep 29, 2023
Publication date	Apr 3, 2025
Grant date	—

Abstract

A steerable laser ablation therapy robot for use in minimally invasive neurosurgery is disclosed. The steerable robotic device comprises a rigid straight outer tube; at least one telescopic flexible tendon-driven inner tube, including an outer telescopic flexible tendon-driven inner tube; and an optical fiber extending through the at least one telescopic flexible tendon-driven inner tube, the optical fiber coupled distally to a distal tip of the outer telescopic flexible tendon-driven inner tube and proximally to a laser generator.

First claim

The claimed invention is:

1 . A steerable robotic device comprising:
a rigid straight outer tube; at least one telescopic flexible tendon-driven inner tube, including an outermost telescopic flexible tendon-driven inner tube; and an optical fiber extending through the at least one telescopic flexible tendon-driven inner tube, the optical fiber coupled distally to a distal tip of the outermost telescopic flexible tendon-driven inner tube and proximally to a laser generator.

2 . The steerable robotic device of claim 1 , wherein the at least one telescopic flexible tendon-driven inner tube comprises a distal segment having notches extending longitudinally along a portion of a wall of the inner tube.

3 . The steerable robotic device of claim 2 , wherein the at least one telescopic flexible tendon-driven inner tube is configured to bend along a curved trajectory.

4 . The steerable robotic device of claim 1 , further comprising a flexible sleeve covering the outermost telescopic flexible tendon-driven inner tube.

5 . The steerable robotic device of claim 1 , wherein the rigid straight outer tube and the at least one telescopic flexible tendon-driven inner tube comprise superelastic nitinol.

6 . The steerable robotic device of claim 1 , further comprising a plurality of nonmagnetic rotary or linear actuators.

7 . The steerable robotic device of claim 1 , comprising an inner telescopic flexible tendon-driven inner tube, wherein a distal tip of the inner flexible tendon-driven inner tube is configured to remain inside the outermost telescopic flexible tendon-driven inner tube.

8 . The steerable robotic device of claim 1 , further comprising a processor configured to determine a deployment force of the at least one telescopic flexible tendon-driven inner tube based on a reference trajectory of the at least one telescopic flexible tendon-driven inner tube.

9 . The steerable robotic device of claim 8 , wherein the processor is configured to determine the deployment force of the at least one telescopic flexible tendon-driven inner tube using a database of measured curvatures corresponding to one or more robot segment lengths.

10 . The steerable robotic device of claim 9 , wherein the database of measured curvatures is generated based a measured soft-tissue deployment force of the one or more robot segment lengths.

11 . The steerable robotic device of claim 9 , wherein the processor performs linear interpolation among the determined deployment forces to compute a tendon wire force for each telescopic flexible tendon-driven inner tube.

12 . The steerable robotic device of claim 1 , wherein the rigid straight outer tube has an outer diameter of about 2.2 mm or smaller.

13 . The steerable robotic device of claim 1 , further comprising a FBG optical fiber extending through the at least one telescopic flexible tendon-driven inner tube, the FBG optical fiber including Fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs).

14 . The steerable robotic device of claim 10 , wherein the FBG optical fiber including FBGs is embedded in a silicone polymer cylinder hosting photothermal nanoparticles, the silicone polymer cylinder located within the distal tip of the outer telescopic flexible tendon-driven inner tube.

15 . The steerable robotic device of claim 10 , wherein the FBG optical fiber including FBGs is surrounded by a flexible saline cooling tube extending through the at least one telescopic flexible tendon-driven inner tube.

16 . The steerable robotic device of claim 10 , wherein the FBGs is configured to monitor temperatures changes at the distal tip of the outer telescopic flexible tendon-driven inner tube.

17 . A method of ablating a target tissue using the steerable robotic device of claim 1 , the method comprising:
inserting the rigid straight outer tube into the target tissue; rotating the at least one telescopic flexible tendon-driven inner tube to define a first navigation plane; deploying the at least one telescopic flexible tendon-driven inner tube; adjusting a tendon wire to control a curved trajectory of the at least one telescopic flexible tendon-driven inner tube; ablating the target tissue; and retracting the at least one telescopic flexible tendon-driven inner tube.

18 . The method of claim 17 , wherein the steerable robotic device comprises an inner telescopic flexible tendon-driven inner tube positioned inside the outer telescopic flexible tendon-driven inner tube, and wherein the deploying step comprises:
distally advancing the inner and outer telescopic flexible tendon-driven inner tubes together; and while holding the inner telescopic flexible tendon-driven inner tube in place, distally advancing the outer flexible tendon-driven inner tube.

19 . The method of claim 17 , wherein the retracting step comprises:
proximally retracting the outer telescopic flexible tendon-driven inner tube onto the inner telescopic flexible tendon-driven inner tube; and after the outer telescopic flexible tendon-driven inner tube is retracted onto the inner telescopic flexible tendon-driven inner tube, proximally retracting the inner and outer telescopic flexible tendon-driven inner tubes into the rigid straight outer tube.

20 . The method of claim 17 , further comprising rotating the at least one telescopic flexible tendon-driven inner tube to define a second navigation plane.

Assignees

• Univ California

Inventors

• Sheng Jun
• Rezaeian Saeed

Classifications

• A61M25/0147

  with movable mechanical means, e.g. pull wires · CPC title

• A61B2034/2061

  using shape-sensors, e.g. fiber shape sensors with Bragg gratings · CPC title

• A61B18/22

  the beam being directed along or through a flexible conduit, e.g. an optical fibre; {Couplings or} hand-pieces therefor · CPC title

• A61B34/30

  Surgical robots · CPC title

• A61B2090/064

  for measuring force, pressure or mechanical tension · CPC title