Toward Transoral Peripheral Lung Access: Combining Continuum Robots and Steerable Needles.

Area of Science:

• Medical Robotics
• Pulmonology
• Surgical Navigation

Background:

• Lung cancer remains a leading cause of cancer mortality.
• Accessing deep lung nodules for diagnosis and treatment is challenging.
• Transoral robotic bronchoscopy offers a safer alternative to percutaneous methods but faces instrument limitations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce a novel robotic system for image-guided trans-bronchoscopic lung access.
• To demonstrate the system's capability in reaching traditionally inaccessible lung targets.
• To improve diagnostic and therapeutic access to peripheral lung nodules.

Main Methods:

• A multi-component robotic system combining a bronchoscope, concentric tube robot, and magnetic-tracking steerable needle.
• Image-guided navigation through airways and lung tissue.
• Closed-loop control for precise targeting of simulated nodules.

Main Results:

• Accurate targeting demonstrated in phantom experiments.
• Ex vivo porcine lung experiments confirmed steerable needle curvature capabilities.
• Successful targeting of patient-specific nodule locations in simulated scenarios.

Conclusions:

• The developed robotic system enhances trans-bronchoscopic access to challenging lung sites.
• This technology has the potential to improve early lung cancer diagnosis and therapy.
• The system shows promise for reaching nodules currently inaccessible via conventional bronchoscopy.