Toward Robotically Automated Femoral Vascular Access

Abstract

Advanced resuscitative technologies, such as Extra Corporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) cannulation or Resuscitative Endovascular Balloon Occlusion of the Aorta (REBOA), are technically difficult even for skilled medical personnel. This paper describes the core technologies that comprise a teleoperated system capable of granting femoral vascular access, an essential step in these procedures, and a significant roadblock in their broader use in the field. These technologies include a kinematic manipulator, various sensing modalities, and a user interface. In addition, we evaluate our system on a surgical phantom as well as in-vivo porcine experiments. To the best of our knowledge, these resulted in the first robot-assisted arterial catheterizations, a significant step towards our eventual goal of automatic catheter insertion through the Seldinger technique.