Development and preliminary evaluation of an actuated MRI-compatible robotic device for MRI-guided prostate intervention

This paper reports the design, development, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) compatibility evaluation of an actuated transrectal prostate robot for MRI-guided intervention. The robot employs an actuated needle guide with the goal of reducing interventional procedure times and increasing needle placement accuracy. The design of the robot, employing piezo-ceramic-motor actuated needle guide positioning and manual needle insertion, is reported. Results of a MRI compatibility study show no reduction of MRI image signal-to-noise-ratio (SNR) with the motors disabled and a 40% to 60% reduction in SNR with the motors enabled. The addition of radio-frequency (RF) shielding is shown to significantly reduce image SNR degradation due to the presence of the robotic device.