Key result
Novel fiber-jamming catheter achieves ~6.5-fold stiffness changes in a cardiac phantom.
Why the study?
Existing variable stiffness catheters using phase-changing materials have slow softening and stiffening rates (≈90 s), which can substantially increase surgery duration.
Does a fiber jamming-based variable stiffness catheter improve force application and stiffness modulation speed compared to standard commercial catheters in preclinical models?
Does a fiber jamming-based variable stiffness catheter improve force application and stiffness modulation speed compared to standard commercial catheters in preclinical models?
A novel fiber jamming-based variable stiffness catheter demonstrates ultra-fast stiffness modulation and superior force application for cardiac ablation in preclinical testing, potentially improving minimally invasive surgeries.
Variable stiffness (VS) has revolutionized miniature surgical instruments, including cardiovascular catheters for minimally invasive surgeries (MISs), enabling advanced capabilities in stiffness modulation and multi-curvature bending. However, existing VS catheters with phase-changing materials are slow in softening and stiffening rates (≈90 s), which can lead to substantial increase in surgery duration. To address the slow stiffness change, we propose a VS catheter based on fiber jamming (FJ) that achieves instant stiffness changes (≤300 ms), enabling seamless catheter operations without delays. Moreover, our catheter, incorporating hundreds of ultrathin fibers into a slender 2.3-mm catheter body, achieves up to 6.5-fold stiffness changes. With adequate stiffness change, our two-segment catheter achieves complex bending profiles within seconds. In addition, the FJ-based design does not require electric currents or heating inside the human body, minimizing patient risks. This FJ-based VS catheter, with instantaneous response, adequate stiffness change, and enhanced safety, can potentially establish benchmarks in MIS, allowing medical practitioners to effectively address formidable diseases.
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Sun et al. (2025) studied Cardiac arrhythmia (cardiac ablation). Fiber jamming variable stiffness catheter vs. Commercial magnetically driven catheters and phase-changing variable stiffness catheters was evaluated on Reaction time for stiffness change and applied force. A novel variable stiffness catheter based on fiber jamming achieved up to 6.5-fold stiffness changes in under 300 milliseconds and applied forces up to 8.2 g in a static cardiac phantom.
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