Ultrasound-, CT- and MR-Guided Robot-Assisted Interventions

Abstract

The economic advantages and increased precision persistently demonstrated by industrial robots have stimulated the application of robots in the medical arena (Fichtinger et al. 2001; Cleary and Nguyen 2001; Nathoo et al. 2005). The main advantages of medical robotic systems include accurate needle guidance and stable access, leading to increased precision, accuracy and reproducible sampling of different parts of a lesion. Robotic-assisted procedures also involve the insertion of tubular therapy devices (ablation probes, catheters, bone drills, screws, tissue ablating devices, etc.) into the body, with the guidance of intra-operative imaging devices, such as CT, MRI, ultrasound or fluoroscopy (Cleary and Nguyen 2001; Cleary et al. 2006; Davies 2000; Fichtinger et al. 2001; Howe and Matsuoka 1999; Pott et al. 2005). The potential advantages are well known in the technical community (Fichtinger et al. 2001) and a variety of medical robots have been developed in recent years, including robotics for rehabilitation, or miniature robots that might be placed inside the body (Fichtinger et al. 2001; Kassim et al. 2005; Masamune et al. 2001; Nathoo et al. 2001; Satava 2003; Yanof et al. 2001).