Design and Development of Light-weight Needle Control Device for Automated Tissue Sampling

Abstract

In this paper we present a new robotic device for performing a percutaneous needle biopsy. The device is designed to perform introducer insertion and tissue sampling in organs of interest, such as the lung and liver. It is designed to have smaller parts and better performance than the previous models, and includes light-weight, sensor-based initialization, needle insertion force monitoring, and high performance tissue sampling. With some design improvements, such as a small pillar gear, for needle cartridge rotation, thin side frames, and a kinematic, linkage-based, spring block trigger, the device is over 40% lighter than previous models. Hall sensors mounted on each moving part, and a load cell between a needle insertion part and the frame, provide information for the stable and safe operation of the device. A prototype was fabricated, based on the design model, and the performance was evaluated for the positioning of the part holding the needle and for the tissue sampling. The results show that the device has an average error of less than 0.1 mm and a tissue sampling success rate of 100%, in both ex-vivo and in-vivo experiments.