Robotic needling system for brachytherapy procedure

Abstract

This paper presents a robotic needling system for needle-based percutaneous procedures. This is a novel non-invasive approach being used in many therapeutic surgeries such as brachytherapy where surgeons insert radioactive seeds in a cancerous prostate to kill the unhealthy parts of tissue locally. Studies presented in this work would assist the prediction of bevel-tipped passive needles while being inserted into the patient’s body. These needles are deflecting inside the tissue due to the natural viscoelastic resistance of the tissue and the overall reacting forces on the needle’s bevel surface. The main aim of this work was to study the effect of having different tip angles at the tip on the final deflection using numerical and experimental methods. This study could be very helpful in path planning and optimizations. Our results showed a higher deflection by a sharper angle at the tip.