Most of the existing MRI guided robotic needle guide systems have been limited to research purposes and have not progressed towards clinical applications due to complex and bulky structures. The ‘device-to-image’ registration step further complicates the operation and significantly increases the overall procedure time. To address limitations, we developed an MRI guided transperineal prostate biopsy guide system that uses the concept of a ‘fixed coordinate device’ to simplify the overall biopsy procedure and eliminate the registration step, making the procedure more clinically friendly. We performed proof-of-concept targeting experiments using an agar phantom under 3T MRI. The targeting results were analyzed, and initial results prove that the simplified intervention concept would well be feasible. We plan to extend the study further to identify error components.
A workspace-orientated needle-guiding robot for 3T MRI-guided transperineal prostate intervention: evaluation of in-bore workspace and MRI compatibility
