Automated Manufacturing of Fiber-Reinforced Elastomeric Enclosures for Patient Specific Catheter Robots

“No-option” patients have vasculature too tortuous for existing catheters to navigate. To treat these patients, new catheter technologies are needed that are easy to actuate and can be customized for each patient. We propose using fiber-reinforced elastomeric enclosures (FREEs), which have been shown to be capable of performing screwing, spiraling, twisting, extending, and other motions when the fiber wrap angles are adjusted. Here, we present and validate an automated system capable of manufacturing FREEs with wrap angles from 0–90 degrees. The prescribed fiber angles were within 5 percent error when manufactured.