Category Archives: Self-Propelled Devices

Ovipositor MRI-Needle

Ovipositor MRI-Needle

Developed in 2020-2021, diameter 0.8 mm.

Female parasitic wasps pass their eggs through an organ called the ovipositor into their hosts, which sometimes hide in a solid substrate such as wood. The ovipositor has the shape of a tube and consists of three slender, parallel-positioned segments, called valves. The wasp can push and pull the valves with respect to each other in a reciprocating manner. A groove-and-tongue mechanism interlocks the valves along their length. The push-pull motion of the valves has two functions. First, it keeps the unsupported length of the individual valves low. Second, moving the individual valves forward one by one while pulling the others provides stability to the wasp’s ovipositor and prevents buckling. The push and pull forces produce a net force near zero, enabling a self-propelled motion.

Inspired by the wasp ovipositor, we developed a self-propelled Ovipositor MRI-Needle with a diameter of 0.8 mm that can be used inside an MRI system. Our needle consists of six parallel needle segments and an actuation unit. The design of the actuation unit is based on the so-called click-pen mechanism of a ballpoint pen. The actuation unit allows you to actuate the needle that consists of six parallel Nitinol segments by just a translating motion. We 3D-printed the components of this actuation to be able to test it inside an MRI system. The video below shows the movement of the needle segments actuated by the actuation unit:

The prototype was tested with success in ex-vivo human prostate tissue in a preclinical 7-Tesla MRI system at the Amsterdam University Medical Centres. The results showed that the needle tip was visible in MR images and that the needle was able to self-propel through tissue.

This project, in which we developed a self-propelled wasp-inspired needle that can be used inside an MRI system, is part of Project 4 of the MEDPHOT programme funded by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO). MEDPHOT focusses on the development of photonics-based technologies that can enable earlier diagnosis and tailored treatment of diseases in the pulmonology, urology, and gastroenterology fields and translate these technologies to their clinical environments. The goal of Project 4 is to develop a novel transperineal laser ablation platform for an accurate treatment of prostate tumours under MRI.

Publications

Ovipositor Device, Self-Propelled Devices

Self-Propelling Ovipositor Device

Developed in 2016 by MSc. student Perry Posthoorn

A wasp ovipositor is a needle-like structure composed out of three elements, called valves. A female wasp uses this structure to drill into wood or fruit and deposit eggs inside a living host. The propagation of the ovipositor through the substrate is achieved by a smart push-pull mechanism, in which one of the valves is pushed while the other two are pulled, using the surface-dependent friction properties with the soft substrate to move forward.

Inspired by the ovipositor of parasitoid wasps, we developed a novel self-propelling Ovipositor Device designed for locomotion through the large intestine (colon). The device contains a miniature electric motor connected to a cylindrical cam. Six sliders are placed around the cam and move forward and backward following the path defined by the cam. Designed for motion through soft environments, the working principle of the propulsion mechanism is that multiple stationary sliders create sufficient friction to allow for a single slider to shuffle forward. In each step, one slider moves forward whereas the others remain stationary relative to the environment, generating a smooth and continuous motion at approximately 1/6 of the speed of a moving slider. The ovipositor mechanism allows a simple and robost construction that can be easily miniaturised to very small dimensions, see our research on self-propelled ovipositor needles.

Experiments were carried out with various flexible 3D-printed structures attached to the outer surface of each slider to generate direction-dependent friction for further enhancement of grip. Tests in plastic tubes showed fast and fluent self-propelled motion. Locomotion in a colon was succesfully achieved with an improved 3D-printed outer surface in which the tangential spacing between the sliding structures was decreased so that the colonic wall does not flex between them. The improved prototype was able to self-propel ex-vivo through a porcine colon without any visual damage to the colonic wall.

(Featured image adapted from “Braconid Wasp Ovipositing” by Katja Schulz is licensed under CC BY 2.0.)

Publications

Ovipositor Needle II, Steerable Instruments

Ovipositor Needle II – Self-Propelling & Steering through Tissue

Developed in 2016-2019, diameters ranging from 1.2 mm to 0.4 mm. 

A wasp ovipositor is a needle-like structure composed out of three elements, called valves. A female wasp uses this structure to drill into wood or fruit and deposit eggs inside a living host. The propagation of the ovipositor through the substrate is achieved by a smart push-pull mechanism, in which one of the valves is pushed while the other two are pulled, using the surface-dependent friction properties with the soft substrate to move forward. Inspired by the ovipositor of parasitoid wasps, we developed a series of self-propelled steerable Ovipositor Needles with ultrathin diameters ranging from 1.2 mm to 0.4 mm.

Our first Ovipositor Needle prototype consists of six super elastic Nickel Titanium (NiTi) wires concentrically arranged around a seventh NiTi wire. The seven wires are interconnected at the tip with a small flower-shaped ring (Ø 1.2 mm) manufactured for minimal resistance during propulsion. The ring has a central hole to which the central wire is glued, surrounded by six concentric holes through which the six other wires can slide back and forth. Each proximal end of the six movable wires is connected to a miniature stepper motor, in which a leadscrew-slider mechanism converts rotational motion into linear motion.

We performed a series of experiments in which the needle was inserted in tissue-mimicking gel phantoms. The wires were sequentially moved back and forth, resulting in the needle moving forward inside the phantom using the surface-dependent friction properties between the wires and the gel. Different sequences of wire actuation were used to achieve both straight, curved and S-shaped trajectories.

In our second Ovipositor Needle prototype we changed the shape of the interlocking ring from cylindrical to conical to investigate the effect of pre-curved wires. We found out that pre-curved wires facilitate steering, however, at the drawback of a slightly larger tip diameter due to the use of a conical flower-ring.

In a final series of Ovipositor Needle prototypes, the flower-shaped ring was replaced by an thin-walled shrinking tube, glued to one of the outer wires, ultimately resulting in ultrathin 0.4 mm needle diameters three times the size of a human hair. The prototypes were tested in multi-layered gel phantoms with varying stiffness properties and artificial membranes, representing different organs and tissues. In a final series of ex-vivo experiments the needles were evaluated with success in porcine liver, kidney and brain tissue.

This project, in which we developed world’s thinnest self-propelled-steerable needles, shows the strength of a novel bio-inspired approach leading to a new generation of needles that can be used to reach deep targets inside the body without a risk of buckling and with the possibility to correct the trajectory. Our needles were developed within the WASP project that focused on the development of steerable needles for localized therapeutic drug delivery or tissue sample removal (biopsy). In a follow-up project, funded by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) we will develop the needles further towards clinical application in urological interventions under MRI.

(Picture at the top adapted from “Braconid Wasp Ovipositing” by Katja Schulz is licensed under CC BY 2.0.)

Publications

Media

Ovipositor Needle I, Steerable Instruments

Ovipositor Needle I – Self-Propelling through Tissue

Developed in 2014, thickness 2 mm.

Wasp ovipositors  are thin and flexible needle-like structures used for laying eggs inside wood or larvae.  Wasp ovipositors are composed out of  longitudinal segments, called “valves”, that can be actuated individually and independently of each other with musculature located in the abdomen of the insect. In this way the wasp can steer the ovipositor along curved trajectories inside different substrates without a need for rotatory motion or axial push.

Inspired by the anatomy of wasp ovipositors, we developed an Ovipositor Needle containing a 2 mm thick “needle” composed out of four sharp and polished stainless steel rods, representing four ovipositor valves. The four valves can be individually moved forward and backward by means of  electromechanical actuators mounted in a propulsion unit that is standing on four passive wheels. If the needle is inserted into a gel that represents tissue, and if the four valves are sequentially moved forward and backward, the friction behaviour around the valves in the gel will result in a net pulling motion that drives the needle forward through the gel. The ovipositor needle is therefore self-propelling, meaning that it does not need a net pushing motion for moving forward through tissue like normal needles do.

Ovipositor Needle I is part of the  WASP project that focuses on the development of steerable needles for localized therapeutic drug delivery or tissue sample removal (biopsy). In a new prototype that is currently under development, we aim to extend the self-propelled needle with steering capabilities at an outer diameter of just 1 mm.

 

Publications