Fig. 4: Design and evaluation of the steerable MMAT-OCT for luminal navigation. | Nature Communications

Fig. 4: Design and evaluation of the steerable MMAT-OCT for luminal navigation.

From: Motor-free telerobotic endomicroscopy for steerable and programmable imaging in complex curved and localized areas

Fig. 4

a Design of the Flexible–Soft–Rigid segmented gradient stiffness distribution of the MMAT-OCT. b Analytical and experimental results (n = 3) of the maximum bending angle in the orthographic (OPA, I and II) and lateral (LPA, III) projection areas. A dashed line indicates the fit. Data are presented as mean values +/− SD. c MMAT-OCT with a 10° pre-bend (a) tested on a transparent, rigid vascular phantom (I). The gray arrows indicate the feed or withdrawal direction of the MMAT-OCT. The blue arrows represent the resistance applied by the phantom on the probe. The red arrows denote the steerable force/torque. Manual advancement without rotation. Path 1 (a1–e1) shows navigation challenges overcome by EPM-induced 20° deflection at 00.24 s. Successful lumen retraction between 00.44 s and 00.46 s. At 00.53 s, the probe traps at c1, likely due to frictional self-locking. (II). Effective navigation of a longer, curved lumen (a2–g2) demonstrates the Flexible–Soft–Rigid design’s efficiency (III). The probe’s position is indicated by a red square marker. Source data are provided as a Source Data file.

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