Study on Magnetic Field for Navigation of Articulated Needle

When the magnetic articulated needle is inserting, the magnetic field which can produce the magnetic force of variable direction is required in order to implement the magnetic navigation in three-dimensional space. The paper puts forward a method for generating three-dimensional magnetic field based on the rotaion and translation of multiple permanent magnets. In this method, multiple permanent magnets form a circumference array. Every permanent magnet can rotate around the spin axis of itself in the array plane and move along the direction vertical to the array plane. Thus, in the array center, a magnetic fled which can produce the uniform magnetic flux density is obtained. The direction of magnetic fled is controllable in three-dimensional space and the magnitude of magnetic flux density is variable in a certain range. The simulations by ANSYS verify the feasibility of the proposed method.