A Novel Steerable Catheter Controlled with a Biohybrid Actuator: A Feasibility Study

Targeted therapies allow increasing the efficacy of treatments for several diseases, including cancer. The release of drugs or chemicals directly in the site of interest will be beneficial for maximizing the therapy and minimize side effects. Here, we report the concept and a preliminary analysis of an innovative intravascular steerable catheter guided by an on-board biohybrid actuator, aiming to release drugs into deep and tortuous regions within the cardiovascular systems. The catheter performance has been estimated through analytical and numerical analyses, varying catheter diameter, wall thickness, and actuator force. Results show how larger catheter deflections can be obtained with a smaller outer diameter and decreasing wall thickness. Besides, improved outcomes can be achieved by applying the biohybrid actuator distant from the catheter tip extremity and maximizing the magnitude of the applied forces. Despite the need to further improve the performance of this concept (e.g., by decreasing material stiffness), these preliminary results show great promise in view of future experimentation of such kind of actuation to drive microcatheters through the cardiovascular network.