Current Directions in Biomedical Engineering (Oct 2021)

Needle insertion planning for obstacle avoidance in robotic biopsy

  • Gerlach Stefan,
  • Neidhardt Maximilian,
  • Weiß Thorben,
  • Laves Max-Heinrich,
  • Stapper Carolin,
  • Gromniak Martin,
  • Kniep Inga,
  • Möbius Dustin,
  • Heinemann Axel,
  • Ondruschka Benjamin,
  • Schlaefer Alexander

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1515/cdbme-2021-2199
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 7, no. 2
pp. 779 – 782

Abstract

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Understanding the underlying pathology in different tissues and organs is crucial when fighting pandemics like COVID-19. During conventional autopsy, large tissue sample sets of multiple organs can be collected from cadavers. However, direct contact with an infectious corpse is associated with the risk of disease transmission and relatives of the deceased might object to a conventional autopsy. To overcome these drawbacks, we consider minimally invasive autopsies with robotic needle placement as a practical alternative. One challenge in needle based biopsies is avoidance of dense obstacles, including bones or embedded medical devices such as pacemakers. We demonstrate an approach for automated planning and visualising suitable needle insertion points based on computed tomography (CT) scans.

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