Precision Pneumatic Robot for MRI-Guided Neurosurgery

Abstract

Thermal ablation is an interventional technique that promises to enable percutaneous treatment of many cancers and other disorders throughout the human body. Acoustic ablation offers the possibility of steering thermal energy electronically [1], and is known to be MRI compatible, and thus amenable to real-time thermal dose monitoring through MR thermometry. We propose a pneumatically actuated robotic approach for delivering the ablator tip to a desired target, since a robot has the potential to be more accurate than humans, and can work within the confined space of a standard MRI machine. Our robot is designed to deliver a steerable needle made from precurved elastic concentric tubes.