A Prototype Body-Mounted MRI-Compatible Robot for Needle Guidance in Shoulder Arthrography

Area of Science:

• Medical Robotics
• Diagnostic Imaging
• Interventional Procedures

Background:

• Traditional shoulder arthrography involves a two-stage process using fluoroscopy and MRI.
• This workflow can be complex and time-consuming, requiring patient transfer between imaging modalities.
• There is a need for streamlined, accurate needle placement techniques within the MRI suite.

Purpose of the Study:

• To design and evaluate a novel, compact, and lightweight patient-mounted robot for MRI-guided needle placement.
• To enable MRI-guided shoulder arthrography as a single-stage procedure within the MRI suite.
• To assess the robot's mechanical design, MRI compatibility, and impact on image quality.

Main Methods:

• A 4-DOF robot was designed with criteria including rigidity, MRI compatibility, and sterilizability.
• The robot facilitates needle orientation and positioning for interventions.
• Initial experiments were conducted to evaluate MRI compatibility with the robot on a human volunteer.

Main Results:

• The robot is compact, lightweight, and MRI-compatible.
• Initial tests showed minimal artifacts in the region of interest.
• Shoulder MRI images were not adversely affected by the presence of the robot on a volunteer.

Conclusions:

• The designed robot enables accurate, MRI-guided needle placement for shoulder arthrography.
• The robot streamlines the procedure into a single-stage workflow within the MRI suite.
• This novel robotic system has the potential to improve the efficiency and accuracy of interventional MRI procedures.