Introduction - Microsurgery: Advances, Simulations, and Applications - page 11

endovascular surgery simulation. As the stress produced by
intravascular tools on the blood vessel model wall is measurable,
there is a way for numerical representation of respect for tissue
during endovascular surgery simulation. In following chapters, we
present the theory and applications of photoelastic stress analysis in
blood vessels models.

Figure 1.7 Endovascular Evaluator EVE developed at Nagoya University in

2005 and used now for training for endovascular intervention
and medical robotics research worldwide.

1.2.3 Catheters and Guide Wires

To ease and increase the number of treatments in endovascular
surgery, a large number of specialized catheters have been
investigated. The shape of the catheter tip is bent preliminary to pass
through blood vessel, and the insertion path is selected by setting the
direction of catheter tip in desired direction. However, when the shape
of the vessel is not suitable for the shape of the catheter, the insertion
becomes dificult. To deal with this problem, active catheters were
proposed. An active catheter can be bent arbitrary to it the shape of
catheter to the blood vessel morphology. The addition of a controlled
motion of the catheter tip has been studied from different approaches
such as the use of Ionic Conductive Polymer Film (ICPF) [33],