Pneumatic actuated robotic assistant system for aortic valve replacement under MRI guidance

We present a pneumatic actuated robotic assistant system for transapical aortic valve replacement under MRI guidance in a beating heart. This is a minimally invasive procedure that is currently performed manually inside the MRI bore. A robotic assistance system that integrates an interactive real-time MRI system, a robotic arm with a newly developed robotic valve delivery module, as well as user interfaces for the physician to plan the procedure and manipulate the robot, would be advantageous for the procedure. An Innomotion arm with hands-on cooperative interface was used as a device holder. A compact MRI compatible robotic delivery module was developed for delivering both balloon-expandable and self-expanding prostheses. A compact fiducial that can be placed close to the volume of interest and requires a single image plane was used for image-based robot registration. The system provides different user interfaces at various stages of the procedure. We present the development and evaluation of the components and the system in ex-vivo experiments.