Image-Guided Needle Placement


Conventional free-hand needle placement involves simultaneous manipulation of the ultrasound (US) probe and needle while the physician mentally relates images on a video screen to locations inside the patient. The fact that physicians are accurate enough to satisfy some clinical objectives using this challenging manual procedure is a testament to their dedication, training, and skill. However, the two-dimensional nature of imaging and dependence on operator skill limit the consistency and effectiveness of treatments delivered with this manual procedure.

Conventional manual needle placement relies on skill and experience

Robotic systems are an appealing alternative, able to perform spatial registration and manipulation tasks rapidly, accurately, and repeatably. Because of this, needle placement robots have garnered substantial interest within the research community in recent years, and many innovative systems and algorithms have been developed. While the excellence of robots at needle placement has been well established, widespread clinical adoption of needle placement robots has not immediately followed.

One reason for this is that contemporary medical robotic systems often introduce a prohibitively complex engineering entourage into otherwise rather straightforward needle placement procedures. To address this, our work on 3D ultrasound-guided needle placement has focused on reducing cost, complexity, and calibration time, thereby enhancing the utility of robotic systems in challenging real-world clinical environments.

           
(Left) 3D Slicer-based software interface (Right) Experimental system with 3DUS guidance and flouoroscopy for tip placement accuracy verification.

Journal Publications:

  1. E. M. Boctor, M. A. Choti, E. C. Burdette, and R. J. Webster III. Three-Dimensional Ultrasound-Guided Robotic Needle Placement: An Experimental Evaluation.  International Journal of Medical Robotics  and Computer Assisted Surgery, 4(2), 180-191, 2008.

  2. E. M. Boctor, R. J. Webster III, H. Mathieu, A. M. Okamura, and G. Fichtinger.  Virtual Remote Center of Motion Control for Needle Placement Robots.  Journal of Computer Aided Surgery, 9(5),  175-183, 2004.

Conference Publications:

  1. E. M. Boctor, R. J. Webster III, M. A. Choti, R. H. Taylor, and G. Fichtinger.  Robotically Assisted Ablative Treatment Guided By Freehand 3D Ultrasound.  Computer Assisted Radiology and Surgery, 503-508, 2004.

  2. E. M. Boctor, R. J. Webster III, H. Mathieu, A. M. Okamura, and G. Fichtinger.  Virtual Remote Center of Motion Control for Needle Placement Robots.  Medical Image Computing and Computer-Assisted Intervention, 2878, 157-164, 2003.