N eedle insertion is a critical aspect of many medical treatments, diagnostic methods, and scientific studies, and is considered to be one of the simplest and most minimally invasive medical procedures. Robot-assisted needle steering has the potential to improve the effectiveness of existing medical procedures and enable new ones by allowing increased accuracy through more dexterous control of ...

Ultra-sound guided needle placement techniques can be performed using either an out-of-plane or in-plane approach as the needle is advanced towards a desired target. During an out-of-plane approach, the needle cuts the plane of imaging transversely and therefore appears as a hyperechoic “dot” on the ultrasound image (Figure 1). It is more difficult to follow the tip of the needle using this tec...

We present an image overlay system that assists in surgical needle insertions inside conventional CT scanners. The device is mounted on the gantry of the CT scanner and consists of a flat LCD display and a semi-transparent mirror. In the preoperative calibration process the overlay system and the imaging plane of the scanner are registered. As a result, looking at the patient through the mirror...

In contemporary brachytherapy procedures, needle placement at the desired target is challenging due to a variety of reasons. A robot-assisted brachytherapy system can improve the needle placement and seed delivery resulting in enhanced patient care. In this paper we present a 16 DOF (degrees-of-freedom) robotic system (9DOF positioning module and 7 DOF surgery module) developed and fabricated f...

For radiofrequency ablation (RFA) of liver tumors, evaluation of vascular architecture, post-RFA necrosis prediction, and the choice of a suitable needle placement strategy using conventional radiological techniques remain difficult. In an attempt to enhance the safety of RFA, a 3D simulator, treatment planning, and training tool, that simulates the insertion of the needle, the necrosis of the ...

INTRODUCTION MRI can be an important tool in the early detection of breast lesions and may provide improved capability for imaging-guided interventions (IGI) and therapies (IGT). During an MR-guided breast intervention, placement of a needle or probe requires accurate localization of the target. An unsuccessful needle placement can occur if the target moves from its original position during the...

PURPOSE The traditional method of percutaneous renal access requires freehand needle placement guided by C-arm fluoroscopy, ultrasonography, or computerized tomography. This approach provides limited objective means for verifying successful access. We developed an impedance based percutaneous Smart Needle system and successfully used it to confirm collecting system access in ex vivo porcine kid...

N. Hata, P. Blumenfeld, S. DiMaio, K. Zou, S. Haker, C. M. Tempany Radiology, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States INTRODUCTION Magnetic Resonance Image-guided prostate biopsy provides an alternative approach to detect and diagnose prostate cancer (1-3). The biopsies targeted at suspected tumor foci, observed in 1.5T and/or 0.5T pre-procedural image...

BACKGROUND Success of spinal anesthesia in pregnant females is strongly influenced by the position of the patient at the time of spinal insertion. Pendant position is a new position introduced to increase the intervertebral spaces. The current study aimed at comparing successful spinal puncture among the patients with pendant position in comparison with the ones with traditional sitting positio...

Purpose The purpose of this study was to evaluate the dispersion of intravitreally injected solutions and investigate the influence of varying injection techniques. Methods This was a prospective study using enucleated porcine eyes and ultra-high-resolution computed tomography (UHRCT) scanning to visualize iomeprol intravitreal dispersion. Sixty eyes were divided over 12 different groups acco...