Project Moray Robotic Catheter System

"Project Moray’s robotic system moves a cardiac catheter inside the beating heart of a patient with a dexterity, precision, and ease of use beyond what was previously possible. The reusable Project Moray drive mechanism bends a single-use, proprietary Project Moray catheter in different directions along its length — somewhat like an eel. Interventional cardiologists need this dexterity so they can treat hundreds of thousands of patients who are too frail to survive the trauma of open heart surgery. Project Moray’s simple cardiac catheter system is driven without pull wires, motors, or magnets, relying instead on computer-controlled microfluidic pressure that is delivered from a smaller footprint than that of known analogous systems, allowing Project Moray to bring robotic dexterity, precision, and ease-of-use to a range of therapies."

"Laby and Barrish are developing a robotically controlled serpentine mechanism with many degrees of actuation that can perfectly position the distal end of the device in the correct anatomical location. (Play the Intro video below to see its movement in action. It’s otherworldly.) The level of precision required for these kinds of advanced surgical techniques are reaching levels that average humans are not naturally capable of performing without technological aid, and the Moray elegantly bridges that gap.

The Trig team came in to work with Project Moray on ergonomics and form factors for the robotic enclosure. Trig helped the team to understand the electromechanical constraints, sterile field considerations, and surgeon user interface expectations. Human-centered design considerations keep the end users in focus so that the device would be intuitive for surgeons and ease the experience of working within tight, winding conditions.

Once prototypes were constructed, Trig developed multiple test conditions to explore many possible scenarios that users could find themselves faced with during surgery so that no consideration would be left unchecked.

Further into the creation process Project Moray then came back to Trig for further concept refinement for polished renderings of the converged design. An expert clinician from Duke University who was familiar with the procedure was pulled in by Trig to consult on accuracy of the concept visuals. That level of refinement aided the design and development of the Moray - as well as communication to prospective investors, lead users, and healthcare system stakeholders."

Source: Project Moray, Trig.com