title: An MRI-compatible surgical robot for precise radiological interventions.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  A variety of medical robots have been developed in recent years. MRI, including MR angiography and morphological imaging, with its excellent soft-tissue contrast is attractive for the development of interventional MRI-guided therapies and operations. This paper presents a telerobotic device for use in CT- and/or MR-guided radiological interventions. A robotic device for precise needle insertion during MR-guided therapy of spinal diseases will be briefly described.
  
  
  METHODS
  Actuation of robots in an MRI environment is difficult due to the presence of strong magnetic fields. Therefore, the robot was constructed of nonmagnetic materials. The system frame was built from polyether ether ketone (PEEK) and fiber-reinforced epoxy, and actuated using ultrasonic and pneumatic motors. Completely MR-compatible sensors were developed for positioning control.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Accuracy evaluation procedures and phantom tests were performed, with the required accuracy of approximately 1 mm being achieved and no significant artifacts being caused by the robotic device during MR image acquisition.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Medical Engineering and Biophysics , Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe , Germany. eckhard.hempel@siemens.com
authors.forename: Eckhard
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Hempel
authors.forename: Harald
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Fischer
authors.forename: Lothar
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gumb
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Höhn
authors.forename: Holger
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Krause
authors.forename: Udo
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Voges
authors.forename: Helmut
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Breitwieser
authors.forename: Bernd
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Gutmann
authors.forename: Jürgen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Durke
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bock
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Melzer
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004867:Equipment Design; D006801:Humans; D007278:Injections, Spinal / Q000295:instrumentation*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000295:instrumentation*; D023421:Models, Animal; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012371:Robotics; D013131:Spine / Q000473:pathology; D025321:Surgery, Computer-Assisted / Q000295:instrumentation*; D013552:Swine