Robot-assisted Needle Insertion Research Articles

Simulation for Needle Deflection and Soft Tissue Deformation in Needle Insertion

Needle deflection and soft tissue deformation are the most important factors that affect accuracy in needle insertion. Based on the quasi-static thinking and needle forces, an improved virtual spring model and a finite element method are presented to analyze needle deflection and soft tissue deformation when a needle is inserted into soft tissue. According to the spring model, the trajectory of the needle tip is calculated with MATLAB using different parameters. With the superposed element method, the two and three dimensional quasi-static finite element models are created to simulate the dynamic process of soft tissue deformation using ANSYS software. The two methods will be available for steering the flexible needle to hit the target and avoid the obstacles precisely in the robot-assisted needle insertion.

Needle insertion into soft tissue: A survey

Needle insertion in soft tissue has attracted considerable attention in recent years due to its application in minimally invasive percutaneous procedures such as biopsies and brachytherapy. This paper presents a survey of the current state of research on needle insertion in soft tissue. It examines the topic from several aspects, e.g. modeling needle insertion forces, modeling tissue deformation and needle deflection during insertion, robot-assisted needle insertion, and the effect of different trajectories on tissue deformation. All studies show that the axial force of a needle during insertion in soft tissue is the summation of different forces distributed along the needle shaft such as stiffness force, frictional force and cutting force. Some studies have modeled these forces. The force data in some procedures is used for identifying tissue layers as the needle is inserted or for path planning. Needle deflection and tissue deformation are major problems for accurate needle insertion and attempts have been made to model them. Using current models several insertion techniques have been developed which are briefly reviewed in this paper.

Physical property of liver for robot-assisted needle insertion

In the procedures that involve needle insertion such as prostate brachytherapy, it is important to reduce tissue deformation before puncture and during insertion. In order to reduce this deformation, we have studied the effect of axial rotation of the needle during insertion. Different methods for rotational motion were compared and the results show that axial rotation can reduce frictional forces as well as tissue indentation before puncturing.