In Situ Flexible Needle Adjustment Towards MRI-Guided Spinal Injections Based on Finite Element Simulation

This paper investigates the possibility of robotically performing in situ needle manipulations to correct the needle tip position in the setting of robot-assisted, MRI-guided spinal injections, where real time MRI images cannot be effectively used to guide the needle. Open-loop control of the needle tip is derived from finite element simulation, and the proposed method is tested with ex vivo animal muscle tissues and validated by cone beam computed tomography. Preliminary results have shown promise of performing needle tip correction in situ to improve needle insertion accuracy when real-time feedback is not readily available.