Patent ID: 8909319
Filing Date: 2014-12-09
Classification: A61B,B23Q,B29C,B65D,G01B,G01R,Y10T

Abstract:
1. A computer-controlled method for performing a medical procedure in a magnetic-resonance-imaging (MRI) machine, the method comprising: compressing bodily tissue of a portion of a patient using a plurality of pairs of elongate links including a first pair of links, a second pair of links and an N such that a first area of biological tissue is exposed between the first pair of links and the second pair of links and a second area of biological tissue is exposed between the first pair of links and the N th pair of links; and under control of a computer system: activating a high-strength magnetic field of at least one Tesla that extends through the portion of the patient; obtaining MRI image data of the portion of the patient; and based on the obtained MRI image data, moving a medical-procedure probe to a position on a circumference of a first circle that is perpendicular to and surrounding a first rotational axis that passes through the biological tissue and an orientation that addresses a selected one of the first area of exposed biological tissue and the second area of exposed biological tissue using a plurality of positional degrees of freedom to position the probe relative to the compressed bodily tissue, wherein the plurality of positional degrees of freedom include a first degree of freedom that determines a first coordinate position of the probe on the circumference of the first circle and at a first rotational angle relative to the first rotational axis that passes through the biological tissue, a second degree of freedom that determines a height of the probe, a third degree of freedom that determines a pitch angle of the probe, a fourth degree of freedom that determines a second rotational angle of the probe relative to a second rotational axis that is not the first rotational axis, and a fifth degree of freedom defined by a probe-extension line that extends along a longitudinal axis of the probe, and then extending the probe along the probe-extension line into the selected exposed biological tissue of the portion of the patient using the fifth degree of freedom.