MR-guided HDR prostate brachytherapy with teleoperated steerable needles

• Published in: Journal of robotic surgery Vol. 17; no. 5; pp. 2461 - 2469
• Main Authors: de Vries, M., Wijntjes, M., Sikorski, J., Moreira, P., van de Berg, N. J., van den Dobbelsteen, J. J., Misra, S.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Springer London 01.10.2023; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Accuracy; Active control; Communication; Feedback; Magnetic resonance; Magnetic resonance imaging; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Minimally Invasive Surgery; Prostate; Prostate cancer; Radiation therapy; Robot control; Robotics; Robots; Scanners; Steering; Surgery; Tumors; Urology; MR-guided; daVinci Surgical System; Teleoperation; Brachytherapy; Prostate; Steerable needle; MIRIAM
• ISSN: 1863-2491; 1863-2483; 1863-2491
• DOI: 10.1007/s11701-023-01676-x

Conformity of tumour volumes and dose plans in prostate brachytherapy (BT) can be constrained by unwanted needle deflections, needle access restrictions and visualisation limitations. This work validates the feasibility of teleoperated robotic control of an active steerable needle using magnetic resonance (MR) for guidance. With this system, perturbations can be counteracted and critical structures can be circumvented to access currently inaccessible areas. The system comprises of (1) a novel steerable needle, (2) the minimally invasive robotics in an MR environment (MIRIAM) system, and (3) the daVinci Research Kit (dVRK). MR scans provide visual feedback to the operator controlling the dVRK. Needle steering is performed along curved trajectories to avoid the urethra towards targets (representing tumour tissue) in a prostate phantom with a targeting error of 1.2 ± 1.0 mm. This work shows the potential clinical applicability of active needle steering for prostate BT with a teleoperated robotic system in an MR environment.