Abstract:

BACKGROUND: HeartLander is a miniature mobile robot designed to navigate over the epicardium of the beating heart for minimally invasive therapy. This paper presents a technique to decrease slippage and improve locomotion efficiency by synchronizing the locomotion with the intrapericardial pressure variations of the respiration and heartbeat cycles. METHODS: Respiratory and heartbeat phases were detected in real time using a chest-mounted accelerometer during locomotion in a porcine model in vivo. Trials were conducted over the lateral aspect of the heart surface to test synchronized locomotion against an unsynchronized control. RESULTS: Offline evaluation showed that the respiration and heartbeat algorithms had accuracies of 100% and 88%, respectively. Synchronized trials exhibited significantly lower friction, higher efficiency, and greater total distance traveled than control trials. CONCLUSION: Synchronization of the locomotion of HeartLander with respiration and heartbeat is feasible and results in safer and more efficient travel on the beating heart.