Preliminary Evaluation of Robotic Transrectal Biopsy System on an Interventional Planning Software Prostate biopsy is considered as a definitive way for diagnosing prostate malignancies. Urologists are currently moving towards MRguided prostate biopsies over conventional transrectal ultrasoundguided biopsies for prostate cancer detection. Recently, robotic systems have started to emerge as an assistance tool for urologists to perform MRguided prostate biopsies. However, these robotic assistance systems are designed for a specific clinical environment and cannot be adapted to modifications or changes applied to the clinical setting andor workflow. This work presents the preliminary design of a cabledriven manipulator developed to be used in both MR scanners and MRultrasound fusion systems. The proposed manipulator design and functionality are evaluated on a simulated virtual environment. The simulation is created on an inhouse developed interventional planning software to evaluate the ergonomics and usability. The results show that urologists can benefit from the proposed design of the manipulator and planning software to accurately perform biopsies of targeted areas in the prostate.

An OpenSource 7Axis, Robotic Platform to Enable Dexterous Procedures within CT Scanners This paper describes the design, manufacture, and performance of a highly dexterous, lowprofile, 7 DegreeofFreedom (DoF) robotic arm for CTguided percutaneous needle biopsy. Direct CT guidance allows physicians to localize tumours quickly; however, needle insertion is still performed by hand. This system is mounted to a fully active motion stage superior to the patientxe2x80x99s head and teleoperated by a radiologist. Unlike other similar robots, this robotxe2x80x99s fully seriallink approach uses a unique combination of belt and cable drives for hightransparency and minimalbacklash, allowing for an expansive working area and numerous approach angles to targets, all while maintaining a small inbore crosssection of less than 16cm2. Simulations verified the systemxe2x80x99s expansive collision free workspace and ability to hit targets across the entire chest, as required for lung cancer biopsy. Targeting error was on average u003c 1mm on a teleoperated accuracy task, illustrating the systemxe2x80x99s sufficient accuracy to perform biopsy procedures. While this system was developed for lung biopsies, it can be easily modified for other CTguided needle based procedures. Additionally, this system is openhardware.1