Magnetic Navigation System Utilizing Resonant Effect to Enhance Magnetic Field Applied to Magnetic Robots

Abstract

We propose a novel magnetic navigation system (MNS) with the resonant effect of an RLC circuit to generate large magnetic field in high frequency. The variable capacitors of the proposed MNS make it possible not only to change the resonant frequency of the RLC circuit, but also to maximize the output current without phase delay at variable resonant frequencies. The proposed MNS can compensate for the amplitude decrease and phase delay due to the inductance effect of a conventional MNS, while generating a uniform magnetic field with a wide range of rotating frequencies to effectively operate a helical robot in human blood vessels. For verification of the constructed MNS, we measured currents and magnetic fields at several resonant frequencies, and the experimental values corresponded well with the calculated values. We finally demonstrated that the proposed MNS substantially improves both moving and unclogging capabilities of a helical robot as compared to the conventional MNS.