Needle steering by duty-cycled spinning: Modeling the mechanics

Techniques have been developed in recent years that enable steering of flexible needles along nonlinear paths to reach deep anatomical structures. This study builds upon previous work involving steering bevel-tipped needles by rotating with a duty cycle during insertion. The paper describes work toward the development of a model of the relation between needle properties, tissue properties, rotational duty cycle, and curvature that is sufficiently simple to serve as an intuitive guide for selection of needle geometry or duty-cycled steering range.