Purpose

The pre-clinical testing of cardiovascular implants gains increasing attention due to the complexity of novel implants and new medical device regulations. It often relies on large animal experiments that are afflicted with ethical and methodical challenges. Thus, a method for simulating physiological heart motions is desired but lacking so far.

Methods

We developed a robotic platform that allows simulating the trajectory of any point of the heart (one at a time) in six degrees of freedom. It uses heart motion trajectories acquired from cardiac magnetic resonance imaging or accelero-meter data. The rotations of the six motors are calculated based on the input trajectory. A closed-loop controller drives the platform and a graphical user interface monitors the functioning and accuracy of the robot using encoder data.

Results

The robotic platform can mimic physiological heart motions from large animals and humans. It offers a spherical work envelope with a radius of 29 mm, maximum acceleration of 20 m/s² and maximum deflection of ±19° along all axes. The absolute mean positioning error in x-, y- and z-direction is 0.21 ±0.06, 0.31 ±0.11 and 0.17 ±0.12 mm, respectively. The absolute mean orientation error around x-, y- and z-axis (roll, pitch and yaw) is 0.24 ±0.18°, 0.23 ±0.13° and 0.18 ±0.18°, respectively.

Conclusion

The novel robotic approach allows reproducing heart motions with high accuracy and repeatability. This may benefit the device development process and allows re-using previously acquired heart motion data repeatedly, thus avoiding animal trials.

中文翻译：

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模仿心脏运动的机器人：心脏设备的离体测试方法

目的

由于新型植入物的复杂性和新的医疗器械法规的复杂性，心血管植入物的临床前测试越来越受到关注。它通常依赖于受到伦理和方法挑战的大型动物实验。因此，需要一种模拟生理心脏运动的方法，但目前还缺乏。

方法

我们开发了一个机器人平台，可以在六个自由度上模拟心脏任意点的轨迹（一次一个）。它使用从心脏磁共振成像或加速度计数据获取的心脏运动轨迹。根据输入轨迹计算六个电机的旋转。闭环控制器驱动平台，图形用户界面使用编码器数据监控机器人的功能和准确性。

结果

该机器人平台可以模仿大型动物和人类的生理心脏运动。它提供了一个半径为 29 mm、最大加速度为 20 m/s ²和沿所有轴的最大偏转为 ±19° 的球形工作包络线。x、y 和 z 方向的绝对平均定位误差分别为 0.21 ±0.06、0.31 ±0.11 和 0.17 ±0.12 mm。围绕 x、y 和 z 轴（滚动、俯仰和偏航）的绝对平均定向误差分别为 0.24 ±0.18°、0.23 ±0.13° 和 0.18 ±0.18°。

结论

新颖的机器人方法允许以高精度和可重复性再现心脏运动。这可能有利于设备开发过程，并允许重复使用先前获得的心脏运动数据，从而避免动物试验。