Related Experiment Video
Updated: Oct 14, 2025
08:17
Dynamic Lung Tumor Tracking for Stereotactic Ablative Body Radiation Therapy
Published on: June 7, 2015
15.9K
Design Considerations for a Steerable Needle Robot to Maximize Reachable Lung Volume.
Inbar Fried1,2, Janine Hoelscher1, Mengyu Fu1
1Department of Computer Science, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA.
IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation : ICRA : [Proceedings]. IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation
|November 1, 2021
Summary
Steerable needles enhance lung lesion diagnosis by navigating complex airways. Design parameters like bronchoscope size and needle curvature significantly impact the reachable lung volume for improved interventional procedures.
Area of Science:
- Medical robotics
- Interventional pulmonology
- Surgical navigation
Background:
- Steerable needles offer improved access to lung lesions for diagnosis and intervention.
- Current limitations exist in defining the reachable workspace for bronchoscopic robotic systems.
Purpose of the Study:
- To analyze the impact of key design parameters on the reachable lung volume for steerable needle systems.
- To inform future design choices and understand the capabilities of robotic bronchoscopy.
Main Methods:
- Utilized Monte Carlo random sampling for piercing configurations.
- Employed Rapidly-exploring Random Trees (RRT) for steerable needle motion planning.
- Simulated procedures in virtual human lung environments to estimate reachable workspace.
Main Results:
- Quantified the effect of bronchoscope diameter, piercing angle, and needle curvature on reachability.
- Demonstrated that each parameter significantly influences the overall reachable workspace.
- Identified critical design trade-offs for optimizing system performance.
Conclusions:
- Parameter optimization is crucial for maximizing the clinical utility of steerable needle systems in the lung.
- This analysis provides a framework for future innovation in robotic bronchoscopy.
- Understanding design parameter influence is key to expanding diagnostic and therapeutic capabilities.
