H.17 Development of a Robotic Arterial Closure Device

Title: Development of a Teleinterventional Radiology Toolkit – Creation of a Robotic Device for Closing an Artery Remotely

Sponsor:

Zachary L. Bercu, MD RPVI

Assistant Division Director, Innovation and Strategy, Division of Interventional Radiology and Image-Guided Medicine

Associate Program Director, Vascular and Interventional Radiology Integrated Residency

Co-Director, Resident Medical Innovation Track (open to all Emory and Morehouse residents)
Associate Professor, Department of Radiology

Emory University School of Medicine
Atlanta, Georgia, USA
zbercu@emory.edu

Project Statement:

Interventional radiology (IR) and image-guided medicine (IGM) continue to impact patients throughout the world. Transarterial procedures (procedures that require access to an artery) include: uterine artery embolization for abnormal bleeding due to fibroids and/or postpartum hemorrhage, prostate artery embolization for treatment of symptoms related to an enlarged prostate, treatment of tumor in the liver with tiny spheres coated in radiation or chemotherapy, and treatment of life-threatening internal bleeding either in the setting of trauma or gastrointestinal bleeding, among other procedures. Nevertheless, access to these procedures, much like endovascular stroke therapies, remains limited. Roughly only 11% of counties in the United States have an interventional radiologist who lives there and recent work by the American Medical Association shows a severe shortage of specialists like interventional radiologists will only worsen over the next decade. A major gap in access is widespread. In addition, patients may have transportation issues that prevent them from getting to the specialist who can help them.

Devices that allow for robotic navigation and steering are under development in IR. With the advent of these new devices, opportunities exist for remote control/navigation of a wire. However, in the absence of other aspects of a comprehensive “teleinterventional robotic toolkit,” the creation of a truly comprehensive platform to deliver care to those who need it most remains elusive.

This proposal is one of a few submitted at this time for addressing elements that are anticipated to be missing from the “teleinterventional robotic toolkit.” We will ensure if more than one proposal is selected by Capstone Design students, each team works on a specific focus area where there is a challenge for which a BME solution designed by the team could help significantly in this area.

The team for this proposal will focus predominantly on addressing the absence of a tool that allows for safe and effective closure of an artery remotely. An ideal solution will be reproducible, safe, and effective. It should be low cost, scalable, and deliverable across the country. It will allow easy closure of both the radial artery and the common femoral artery. It may or may not be compatible with existing technology to close the vessel, only through remote capabilities. The team will be encouraged to observe procedures in our new state-of-the-art operation at the Winship at Emory Midtown Tower and at the renowned Emory University Hospital campus and to think about how to democratize subspecialty care between world renown medical centers and community practices to address health inequity through novel devices.

Clinical Mentorship Team:

Zachary Bercu, MD RPVI

Janice Newsome, MD FSIR

Judy Gichoya, MD MS

Christian Fauria-Robinson, MD

Meghan Lilly, MD

Steve Citron, MD FSIR

Peter Park, MD

Kamil Arif, MD

Nick Swilley, MD