Science | 2019
Autonomous piloting in a beating heart
Abstract
Medical Robotics\nCatheter navigation in minimally invasive procedures is challenging. Fagogenis et al. trained a robotic catheter to identify blood, heart tissue, and an artificial aortic valve using a combination of visual and force data, an approach called haptic vision. They then programmed wall-following algorithms that directed the robot through a beating pig heart in vivo. The robot autonomously moved along the ventricular wall, to and around the valve, and to specific paravalvular leak sites, with a performance comparable to that of handheld catheter navigation and joystick control of the robot.\n\nSci. Robot. 4 , eaaw1977 (2019).