title: Experimental evaluation of ultrasound-guided 3D needle steering in biological tissue.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  In this paper, we present a system capable of automatically steering bevel tip flexible needles under ultrasound guidance toward stationary and moving targets in gelatin phantoms and biological tissue while avoiding stationary and moving obstacles. We use three-dimensional (3D) ultrasound to track the needle tip during the procedure.
  
  
  METHODS
  Our system uses a fast sampling-based path planner to compute and periodically update a feasible path to the target that avoids obstacles. We then use a novel control algorithm to steer the needle along the path in a manner that reduces the number of needle rotations, thus reducing tissue damage. We present experimental results for needle insertion procedures for both stationary and moving targets and obstacles for up to 90 mm of needle insertion.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We obtained a mean targeting error of [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] mm in gelatin-based phantom and biological tissue, respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The achieved submillimeter accuracy suggests that our approach is sufficient to target the smallest lesions ([Formula: see text] 2 mm) that can be detected using state-of-the-art ultrasound imaging systems.
authors.affiliation: MIRA-Institute for Biomedical Technology and Technical Medicine (Robotics and Mechatronics), University of Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands. m.abayazid@utwente.nl.
authors.forename: Momen
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Abayazid
authors.affiliation: MIRA-Institute for Biomedical Technology and Technical Medicine (Robotics and Mechatronics), University of Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Gustaaf J
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Vrooijink
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Sachin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Patil
authors.affiliation: Department of Computer Science, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
authors.forename: Ron
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Alterovitz
authors.affiliation: MIRA-Institute for Biomedical Technology and Technical Medicine (Robotics and Mechatronics), University of Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Sarthak
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Misra
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D004867:Equipment Design; D006801:Humans; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional; D009339:Needles; D010363:Pattern Recognition, Automated; D019047:Phantoms, Imaging; D025321:Surgery, Computer-Assisted; D018084:Ultrasonography, Interventional
keywords: Computer-assisted surgery; Image-guided control; Medical robots and systems; Minimally invasive surgery; Needle–tissue interactions; Ultrasound