Development and evaluation of optical needle depth sensor for percutaneous diagnosis and therapies

摘要

Current methods of needle insertion during percutaneous CT and MRI guided procedures lack precision in needle depth sensing. The depth of the needle insertion is currently monitored through depth markers drawn on the needle and later confirmed by intra-procedural imaging; until this confirmation, the physicians’ judgment that the target is reached is solely based on the depth markers, which are not always clearly visible. We have therefore designed an optical sensing device which provides continuous feedback of needle insertion depth and degree of rotation throughout insertion. An optical mouse sensor was used in conjunction with a microcontroller board, Arduino Due, to acquire needle position information. The device is designed to be attached to a needle guidance robot developed for MRI-guided prostate biopsy in order to aid the manual insertion. An LCD screen and three LEDs were employed with the Arduino Due to form a hand-held device displaying needle depth and rotation. Accuracy of the device was tested to evaluate the impact of insertion speed and rotation. Unlike single dimensional needle depth sensing developed by other researchers, this two dimensional sensing device can also detect the rotation around the needle axis. The combination of depth and rotation sensing would be greatly beneficial for the needle steering approaches that require both depth and rotation information. Our preliminary results indicate that this sensing device can be useful in detecting needle motion when using an appropriate speed and range of motion.