Alexander Squires1, Sheng Xu2, Reza Seifabadi2, Yue Chen1, Harsh Agarwal3, Marcelino Bernardo2, Ayele Negussie2, Peter Pinto2, Peter Chokye2, Bradford Wood2, and Zion Tsz Ho Tse1
1College of Engineering, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, United States, 2National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, United States, 3Philips Research North America, Briarcliff Manor, NY, United States
MRI-guided focal
laser ablation (FLA) shows promise as an effective treatment for prostate
cancer, but presents challenges related to accurate catheter positioning and
ablation monitoring. A catheter positioning robot was designed to overcome
these problems by positioning the catheter optimally for ablation and
monitoring the ablation via MRI thermometry. A remote insertion guide allows
the surgeon to perform the procedure without removing the patient from the MRI
bore, saving time and increasing accuracy. Treatment planning software
iteratively plans optimal catheter positioning. Preliminary tests show the robot
can greatly improve efficiency and accuracy without sacrificing image quality.
