Minimally invasive intraperitoneal photodynamic therapy using a new soft robot system

Currently, photodynamic therapy (PDT) of primary tumors in peritoneal organs is limited by the lack of specificity of photosensitizers (PSs) and availability of appropriate laparoscopy for accurate and dexterous PDT optical fiber deployment. Invasive procedures are often required in the conventional approach, leads to significant side effects such as bleeding and extended recovery time. The purpose of this study is to design and evaluate a soft robot system for targeted and minimally invasive PDT of intraperitoneal tumors. Our soft robot system is fabricated with silicone materials to enable safe interaction with the abdominal organs. Compared to the conventional laparoscopic device, this soft robot system can be translated, bent, and rotated to reach the desired target by using three high-resolution DC motors. A miniature camera (ENA-10005-AS, Enable Inc.) is integrated with the soft robot to enable the intraoperative image guidance while reaching the target. A hollow channel was created within the soft robot so as to deploy the optical fiber towards the tumor. We conducted interstitial PDT using a peritoneal ovarian tumor mouse model and targeted near infrared photosensitizer. After the PS was injected, the optical fiber was inserted into the tumors through the soft robot. We found that PDT treatment greatly inhibited tumor growth. Our preliminary results suggest that our soft robot system may have great potential in the PDT treatment of intraperitoneal tumors.