A novel variable stiffness catheter based on fiber jamming achieved instant stiffness changes (≤300 ms) and up to 6.5-fold stiffness changes without requiring electric currents or heating.
Does a fiber jamming-based variable stiffness catheter improve stiffness change rates compared to existing phase-changing materials?
A novel fiber jamming-based variable stiffness catheter achieves instantaneous stiffness changes (≤300 ms) and up to 6.5-fold stiffness modulation without requiring electric currents or heating.
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.
Sun et al. (Fri,) conducted a other in Minimally invasive cardiovascular surgeries. Variable stiffness catheter based on fiber jamming vs. Existing variable stiffness catheters with phase-changing materials was evaluated on Stiffness change rate and magnitude. A novel variable stiffness catheter based on fiber jamming achieved instant stiffness changes (≤300 ms) and up to 6.5-fold stiffness changes without requiring electric currents or heating.