Development and preliminary evaluation of a motorized needle guide template for MRI-guided targeted prostate biopsy

To overcome the problems of limited needle insertion accuracy and human error in the use of a conventional needle guide template in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-guided prostate intervention, we developed a motorized MRI-compatible needle guide template that resembles a transrectal ultrasound-guided prostate template. The motorized template allows automated, gapless needle guidance in a 3T MRI scanner with minimal changes in the current clinical procedure. To evaluate the impact of the motorized template on MRI, signal-to-noise ratio and distortion were measured under various system configurations. A maximum of 44% signal-to-noise ratio decrease was found when the ultrasonic motors were running, and a maximum of 0.4% image distortion was observed due to the presence of the motorized template. To measure needle insertion accuracy, we performed four sets of five random target needle insertions mimicking four biopsy procedures, which resulted in an average in-plane targeting error of 0.94 mm with a standard deviation of 0.34 mm. The evaluation studies indicated that the presence and operation of the motorized template in the MRI bore create insignificant image degradation, and provide submillimeter targeting accuracy. The automated needle guide that is directly controlled by navigation software eliminates human error so that the safety of the procedure can be improved.