A biopsy needle has a central axis and includes one or more sensing regions, each sensing region formed by a plurality of sensing optical fibers located over a particular extent of said central axis and inside the outer shell of the needle. The sensing optical fibers are coupled to a wavelength interrogator. A steerable catheter has a central axis and outer shell, the outer shell coupled to a plurality of optical fibers in sensing regions and actuation regions, the sensing regions formed over particular extents of the central axis by bonding gratings to the inner surface of the outer shell, and the actuation regions formed by coupling optical energy into shape memory alloys bonded to the outer shell.

A robotic system includes a manipulator assembly including at least one actuator, a control system including at least one processor configured to control the manipulator assembly, an elongate flexible catheter configured to be manipulated by the at least one actuator, and a support structure mounted on a proximal portion of the elongate flexible catheter. The support structure includes a first alignment feature and a second alignment feature. The first alignment feature is configured to mate with a first sensor such that the first sensor is maintained parallel to a longitudinal axis of the support structure. The second alignment feature is configured to mate with a second sensor such that the second sensor is maintained parallel to the longitudinal axis of the support structure and such that the second sensor is fixed relative to the first sensor in at least one degree of freedom.

A tracking system for tracking a marker device for being attached to a medical device is provided, whereby the marker device includes a sensing unit comprising a magnetic object which may be excited by an external magnetic or electromagnetic excitation field into a mechanical oscillation of the magnetic object, and the tracking system comprises a field generator for generating a predetermined magnetic or electromagnetic excitation field for inducing mechanical oscillations of the magnetic object, a transducer for transducing a magnetic or electromagnetic field generated by the induced mechanical oscillations of the magnetic object into one or more electrical response signals, and a position determination unit for determining the position of the marker device on the basis of the one or more electrical response signals.

Systems and method for controlling the bending of a robotic catheter. A control backbone of the robotic catheter is coupled to a linear movement stage by a spring and linear movement of the control backbone causes a controllable bending of the robotic catheter. A sensor monitors a deflection of the spring and the bending of the catheter is controlled based on the spring deflection signal from the sensor. The spring allows passive bending of the robotic catheter without movement of the active linear movement stage and, conversely, allows external forces applied to the robotic catheter to limit a bending movement of the robotic catheter caused by—movement of the active linear movement stage. In some implementations, the robotic catheter includes a selectively deployable tip mechanism for deploying a steerable tip or for selectively exposing side windows on the catheter for increasing traction for clot removal.

The present invention relates to a pose estimation method of an interventional medical device using a single-view X-ray image which is captured using a bendable interventional medical device equipped with a plurality of radiopaque markers and using an X-ray source. The pose estimation method includes an operation (a) of defining a circle assuming that the interventional medical device is bent at a constant curvature, an operation (b) of extracting a position value of the marker from an X-ray image obtained by the X-ray source projecting X-rays onto the markers, and an operation (c) of setting a projection plane and estimating a shape of the circle using a position value of the marker extracted from a projected image obtained by perspective-projecting the circle onto the projection plane and using the position value of the marker extracted from the X-ray image.

The present invention relates to a hysteresis compensation control apparatus of a flexible tube and a method thereof for compensation control of hysteresis of a surgical instrument disposed in a channel of an overtube. The hysteresis compensation control apparatus includes: an input unit receiving image information and tension information of a flexible surgical instrument required for mode switching; a mode switching determining unit for determining a current state of the surgical instrument on the basis of the image information of the surgical instrument, and generating a control mode switching signal according to the current state of the surgical instrument; a mode switching unit for switching a control mode from a flexible tube control based on the image information to a flexible tube control based on the tension information according to the control mode switching signal; and a compensation control unit for compensatingly controlling a flexible surgical instrument having hysteresis characteristics on the basis of a tension error value calculated by a learning model.

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide robotic systems, apparatuses, and methods. One such robotic system comprises a robotic surgical tool; and a steering system configured to steer the robotic surgical tool based on motion angle commands along X and Y axes as the robotic surgical tool moves in an Z axis direction within a tubular passageway. The system further comprises a computing device that executes an artificial intelligence program configured to control the steering system by computing the motion angle commands based on a current position of the robotic surgical tool along planar axes of the tubular passageway and center positions of the passageway along the planar axes. Other systems and methods are disclosed.

A mixed reality (MR) visualization system includes an MR device comprising a holographic display configured to display a holographic image to an operator, a hand-held ultrasound imaging device configured to obtain a real-time ultrasound image of a subject's anatomy, and a computing device communicatively coupled to the MR device and the hand-held ultrasound imaging device. The computing device includes a non-volatile memory and a processor. The computing device is configured to receive the real-time ultrasound image, determine a real-time 3D position and orientation of the hand-held ultrasound imaging device, generate a modified real-time ultrasound image by modifying the real-time ultrasound image to correspond to the real-time 3D position and orientation of the hand-held ultrasound imaging device, and transmit the modified real-time ultrasound image to the MR device for display as the holographic image positioned at a predetermined location relative to the hand-held ultrasound imaging device.

An electronic device is disclosed. The electronic device comprise an elongate electrical connector that is configured to connect to an integrated device package. The elongate electrical connector can comprise an elongate flexible substrate. The elongate flexible substrate has a proximal portion and a distal portion spaced from the proximal portion by a length along a longitudinal axis. The elongate flexible substrate has a width along an axis transverse to the longitudinal axis. The elongate flexible substrate defines an elongation ratio of the length to the width. The elongation ratio is at least 100:1. The elongate electrical connector can be connected to a bobbin. The elongate electrical connector can be configured to unspool from the bobbin.

An endoscopic system includes an elongate shaft, a pull wire that runs a length of the elongate shaft, a handle coupled to a proximal portion of the elongate shaft, the handle housing a proximal portion of the pull wire, the handle being couplable to a robotic driver configured to tension the pull wire to cause articulation of the elongate shaft, and one or more conductors that run the length of the elongate shaft, the one or more conductors being electrically coupled to the pull wire at a distal portion of the elongate shaft and configured to form part of a closed electrical circuit with the pull wire.