Fabrication and characterization of laser-micromachined polypyrrole-based artificial muscle actuated catheters

Minimally invasive surgical tools using catheter based technology plays an important role in biomedical diagnostics and treatments. Much research has focused on producing an actively controllable tip catheter to improve accuracy and efficiency over traditional passive catheters when navigating inside patients. In this work, we describe the design, fabrication and characterization of a novel laser-micromachined polypyrrole (PPy) based active catheter. Two-dimensional controlled bending motion of a four-electrode catheter is demonstrated. Combining such catheter with optical coherence tomography, which can provide subsurface visualization of biological tissue, imaging capability using the active catheter tip is also demonstrated.