Sim2Real Learning With Domain Randomization for Autonomous Guidewire Navigation in Robotic-Assisted Endovascular Procedures

Over the past decade, significant advancements have been made in the research and industrialization of robotic systems for endovascular procedures, yet their clinical application remains relatively limited. Physicians commonly report that these robots lack certain intelligent assistive capabilities during procedures. There has been increasing interest and attempts to apply learning-centered algorithms to the training and enhancement of surgical robot skills. This paper proposes an autonomous navigation algorithm for interventional guidewires that is initially trained solely in a virtual simulation environment and subsequently deployed to a real-world robot. Experimental results demonstrate the feasibility of this approach for real-world applications. The proposed approach can help physicians reduce the learning curve for guidewire manipulation and elevate the robot to a higher level of autonomous operation, thereby breaking through the current bottleneck in the level of intelligence for clinical applications of interventional robots. It also holds promise for bringing intelligent transformation to future interventional procedures.