Smart needles for percutaneous interventions

Smart needles for percutaneous interventions

Henken, K.R.

Dankelman, J. (promotor)
van den Dobbelsteen, J.J. (copromotor)

Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineering

BioMechanical Engineering

2014-09-30

The development of advanced needles for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes such as ablation and brachytherapy in the liver has offered minimally invasive therapies to patients that were previously untreatable. This thesis focuses on accurate placement of such needles guided by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to maximize the effect of the treatment and to minimize unwanted side-effects. To this end, an MRI-compatible steerable needle is developed which consists of a cable-actuated tip and a passively flexible shaft. The trajectory of this needle can be adjusted after the needle has been inserted. In addition, shape sensing based on optical strain sensors (fiber Bragg gratings or FBGs) is investigated aiming at feeding back information about the position and orientation of the needle tip in real-time. This is essential for accurate targeting, particularly when the needle trajectory is curved. Finally, steerability and shape sensing are integrated in a robotic system for needle steering in MRI-guided percutaneous interventions in the liver. The master-slave system comprises a steerable needle equipped with FBGs for tracking and a piezoelectric actuator unit. Needle insertion and steering is controlled by the physician through a master device, while FBG-based visual feedback of the needle shape is provided.

needle
robotics
FBG
biomedical engineering
sensors
MRI
medical instruments
shape sensing
needle steering

https://doi.org/10.4233/uuid:c11ff40a-cf64-4459-95df-6908b6245354

2015-09-30

9789461863447

Institutional Repository

doctoral thesis

(c) 2014 Henken, K.R.