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A Concentric Tube Continuum Robot with Piezoelectric Actuation for MRI-Guided Closed-Loop Targeting

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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.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported in part by the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs Prostate Cancer Research Program New Investigator Award W81XWH-09-1-0191, NSF CAREER Award IIS-1054331, NIH Bioengineering Research Partnership R01CA111288, NIH award R01CA166379, and the Link Foundation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering and the John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA

    Hao Su

  2. Automation and Interventional Medicine (AIM) Robotics Laboratory, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, MA, 01609, USA

    Gang Li & Gregory S. Fischer

  3. Vanderbilt Institute in Surgery and Engineering, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, 37235, USA

    D. Caleb Rucker

  4. University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, 37996, USA

    Robert J. Webster III

Authors
  1. Hao Su
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  2. Gang Li
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  3. D. Caleb Rucker
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  4. Robert J. Webster III
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  5. Gregory S. Fischer
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Hao Su.

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Associate Editor Xiaoxiang Zheng oversaw the review of this article.

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Su, H., Li, G., Rucker, D.C. et al. A Concentric Tube Continuum Robot with Piezoelectric Actuation for MRI-Guided Closed-Loop Targeting. Ann Biomed Eng 44, 2863–2873 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10439-016-1585-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10439-016-1585-7

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