Kinematics analysis of the catheter for a novel VR robotic catheter system

Compared to traditional surgery, MIS (minimally invasive surgery) as a specialized surgical technique has attracted more attention for its small incisions can minimize the trauma of patients and shorten the recovery time. Because of the complexity of the interventional surgery, the surgeon must be trained a lot to improve operation skills. In this paper, we will introduce a virtual reality robotic catheter system which can be used to train the interns to complete the operation. The virtual environment, including catheter model and vascular model, is established using 3 DS MAX 2012 software. PHANTOM premium 1.5 as the master side has been applied to control the movement of the catheter model in the virtual environment. During the real process of MIS, the catheter can realize radial movement and axial rotation. The position information obtained from the handle of the haptic device is chosen as the control variable to control the movement of the catheter in the virtual environment on two degrees of freedom. And we analyze the kinematics of the two degrees of freedom of the catheter. A proportional relationship between the control variable and the movement of the catheter is established. The experimental results prove that the traceability of the virtual reality system is high. That ensures the reliability and accuracy of the virtual interventional surgery.