Jonathan Douglas Plasencia1, Kevin M.
Bennett1, Gregory H. Turner2,3, Leland S. Hu4,
David H. Frakes1,5
1School of Biological &
Health Systems Engineering, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, United
States; 2Keller Center for Imaging Innovation, Phoenix, AZ, United
States; 3Barrow Neurological Institute, Phoenix, AZ, United
States; 4Department of Radiology, Mayo Clinic Arizona, Phoenix,
AZ, United States; 5School of Electrical, Computer & Energy
Engineering, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, United States
Advances in physiologic and molecular MRI-based techniques have greatly improved the capability to monitor in vivo the pathophysiologic behavior of pre-clinical small animal tumor models and their response to novel drug therapies. A critical part to confirming the accuracy of imaging techniques is the correlation of MRI measurements with tissue analysis parameters. We propose an economically viable mechanical-based image-guided stereotactic biopsy system for small animal experiments that achieves sub-millimeter needle tip positioning accuracy. Methods are described in detail and validation results are presented.
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