Awaz Ali

Medtronic · CardioVascular

Positioning and stabilizing a catheter at the required location inside a vessel or the heart is a complicated task in interventional cardiology. In this review we provide a structured classification of catheter stabilization mechanisms to systematically assess their challenges during cardiac interventions. Commercially available, patented, and expe...

Purpose In previous studies we developed two mechanical prototypes of steerable catheters: the Sigma , which uses joysticks to actuate two steerable tip segments, and the Epsilon , which has a handle that is an enlarged version of the tip. In this study, we present a first performance evaluation of the prototypes in the cardiac environment. The eva...

Contact force management has been proven to have a positive effect on the outcome of cardiac ablation procedures. However, no method exists that allows maintaining a constant contact force within a required and effective range. This work aims to develop and evaluate such a constant force mechanism for use in an ablation catheter. A passive constant...

Objective: The aim of this research is to integrate spectral tissue sensing technology inside a cardiac bioptome for real-time measurements of tissue characteristics. Methods: Bioptome tip and handle components were designed and manufactured to house and guide optical fibers. The designed components were assembled on a cardiac bioptome together wit...

In recent years, steerable catheters have been developed to combat the effects of the dynamic cardiac environment. Mechanically actuated steerable catheters appear the most in the clinical setting; however, they are bound to a number of mechanical limitations. The aim of this research is to gain insight in these limitations and use this information...

This work focuses on the design of a new device (called ChoRe) to place artificial chords in the mitral valve structure during a trans-catheter procedure. The aim of the device is to restore the correct functionality of the valve and solve mitral valve regurgitation, that is, a common consequence of chordae tendineae rupture. An analysis of the req...

Iterative prototyping is costly and time-consuming. Particularly when designing medical instruments, human factors related design choices significantly impact performance and safety. A tool is presented that allows for the evaluation of steerable instrument controls before the onset of the prototyping stage. The design tool couples gestural input t...

Even though technological advances have increased the application area of minimally invasive surgery (MIS), there are still hurdles to allow for widespread adoption for more complex procedures. The development of steerable instruments, in which the surgeon can alter the tip orientation, has increased the application area of MIS, but they are bulky,...

Objective: This review aims to provide a structured classification of the underlying steering mechanisms in steerable catheters and to assess their future challenges. Methods: Existing, patented, and experimental designs of steerable catheters are classified with respect to their steerability. Subsequently, the classification is used as a tool f...