title: CT-guided, minimally invasive, postmortem needle biopsy using the B-Rob II needle-positioning robot.
abstract: CT-guided, minimally invasive needle biopsy techniques can be used to retrieve tissue or body fluid samples for histologic tissue diagnoses in forensic investigations. The purpose of this study was an evaluation of CT-guided needle-positioning robot B-Rob II. To operate under CT guidance, we adopted the B-Rob II robotic needle placement system and its workflow. The accuracy and speed of the procedure were tested on a gelatin phantom in a series of 21 biopsies. We achieved an average needle placement accuracy of 1.8 mm (±1.1 mm) using robotic assistance. The procedure required an average of 2 min 21 s. The needle placement accuracy for minimally invasive needle biopsies using the B-Rob II biopsy robot is sufficiently accurate and fast for forensic postmortem examinations of focal organ changes. Further tests will be performed to test the feasibility of the robot for performing biopsies of focal organ changes in human bodies.
authors: University of Zurich, Institute of Forensic Medicine, Winterthurerstrasse 190/52, 8057, Zürich, Switzerland.
authors: Rosa M
authors: RM
authors: Martinez
authors: Wolfgang
authors: W
authors: Ptacek
authors: Wolf
authors: W
authors: Schweitzer
authors: Gernot
authors: G
authors: Kronreif
authors: Martin
authors: M
authors: Fürst
authors: Michael J
authors: MJ
authors: Thali
authors: Lars C
authors: LC
authors: Ebert
mesh_terms: D001707:Biopsy, Needle / Q000379:methods*; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D049429:Forensic Pathology / Q000379:methods; D005780:Gelatin; D006801:Humans; D008954:Models, Biological; D015641:Radiography, Interventional; D012371:Robotics; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed
chemical_list: D005780:Gelatin
keywords: CT; Virtopsy; forensic imaging; forensic science; image guided; postmortem biopsy; robotic; tissue sampling