title: A Concentric Tube Continuum Robot with Piezoelectric Actuation for MRI-Guided Closed-Loop Targeting.
abstract: This paper presents the design, modeling and experimental evaluation of a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-compatible concentric tube continuum robotic system. This system enables MRI-guided deployment of a precurved and steerable concentric tube continuum mechanism, and is suitable for clinical applications where a curved trajectory is needed. This compact 6 degree-of-freedom (DOF) robotic system is piezoelectrically-actuated, and allows simultaneous robot motion and imaging with no visually observable image artifact. The targeting accuracy is evaluated with optical tracking system and gelatin phantom under live MRI-guidance with Root Mean Square (RMS) errors of 1.94 and 2.17 mm respectively. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the robot has kinematic redundancy to reach the same target through different paths. This was evaluated in both free space and MRI-guided gelatin phantom trails, with RMS errors of 0.48 and 0.59 mm respectively. As the first of its kind, MRI-guided targeted concentric tube needle placements with ex vivo porcine liver are demonstrated with 4.64 mm RMS error through closed-loop control of the piezoelectrically-actuated robot.
authors.affiliation: Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering and the John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA. haosu.ieee@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Hao
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Su
authors.affiliation: Automation and Interventional Medicine (AIM) Robotics Laboratory, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, MA, 01609, USA.
authors.forename: Gang
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Vanderbilt Institute in Surgery and Engineering, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, 37235, USA.
authors.forename: D Caleb
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Rucker
authors.affiliation: University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, 37996, USA.
authors.forename: Robert J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Webster Iii
authors.affiliation: Automation and Interventional Medicine (AIM) Robotics Laboratory, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, MA, 01609, USA.
authors.forename: Gregory S
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Fischer
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D019047:Phantoms, Imaging; D059745:Piezosurgery / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D065287:Robotic Surgical Procedures / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*
keywords: Concentric tube continuum robot; Image-guided surgery; MR-conditional