Design of a Movable Rotating Magnetic Field Actuation System for Target Delivery in 3-D Vascular Model

This paper presents a new movable rotating magnetic field actuation system by integrating a rotating permanent magnet as the end-effector of a robot arm. The permanent magnet is rotated by a stepper motor, which creates a rotating magnetic field for driving a millimeter-scale magnet robot in 3D space. The trajectory tracking control of the miniature robot in 3D vascular model filled with different liquids has been realized by programming the movement of the robot arm. Experimental study has been carried out to test the performance of the magnetic millirobot for catheter-based target delivery. The results demonstrate the effectiveness of the millirobot for tracking predefined 2-D planar and 3-D spatial trajectories in vascular model under wireless control by the created movable rotating magnetic field. The reported magnetic actuation system provides a promising solution for target delivery in vascular navigation.