An NUAA-developed ultrasonic motor about 4 mm long spins an imaging probe from the catheter tip, aiming for clearer imaging inside brain vessels.
NUAA's Precision Driving and Control Institute, guided by Academician Zhao Chunsheng, has built a micro ultrasonic motor about 4 mm long and 0.55 mm in diameter that sits at the tip of an optical coherence tomography (OCT) catheter and spins the imaging probe directly. This avoids the long drive shaft used in conventional catheters, a source of image distortion that is especially problematic in small, winding brain vessels.
The work, led by PhD student Wang Baiquan with Professor Wu Dawei and clinical partners at the Eastern Theater Command General Hospital, was featured on the cover of Biomedical Optics Express and reported by Optica, Physics World and EurekAlert!. It has been tested on laboratory models and tissue samples; further development is needed before clinical use. The project shows how precision engineering from aerospace research can open new paths in medical devices.