MULTILINK ACTIVE CATHETER SNAKE-LIKE MOTION

A prototype of a catheter which can move like a snake, incorporating d istributed shape memory alloy actuators, is described. Since this acti ve catheter has an instrumental navigation ability, minimally invasive diagnosis and interventional therapy will be possible. The outer diam eter of the active catheter is 2.8 mm and it has many links fabricated by 3-dimensional silicon micromachining. The silicon batch process wa s used for the fabrication of the link to minimize assembly work. A ne w heating method (indirect heating) is suggested which is necessary wh en the JC chip is mounted on the link.