Stormram 4: An MR Safe Robotic System for Breast Biopsy

Vincent Groenhuis* (Corresponding Author), Françoise J. Siepel, Jeroen Veltman, Jordy K. van Zandwijk, Stefano Stramigioli

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

42 Citations (Scopus)
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Abstract

Suspicious lesions in the breast that are only visible on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) need to be biopsied under MR guidance with high accuracy and efficiency for accurate diagnosis. The aim of this study is to present a novel robotic system, the Stormram 4, and to perform preclinical tests in an MRI environment. Excluding racks and needle, its dimensions are 72 × 51 × 40 mm. The Stormram 4 is driven by two linear and two curved pneumatic stepper motors. The linear motor is capable of exerting 63 N of force at a pressure of 0.65 MPa. In an MRI environment the maximum observed stepping frequency is 30 Hz (unloaded), or 8 Hz when full force is needed. The Stormram 4’s mean positioning error is 0.73 ± 0.47 mm in free air, and 1.29 ± 0.59 mm when targeting breast phantoms in MRI. Excluding the off-the-shelf needle, the robot is inherently MR safe. The robot is able to accurately target lesions under MRI guidance, reducing tissue damage and risk of false negatives. These results are promising for clinical experiments, improving the quality of healthcare in the field of MRI-guided breast biopsies.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1686-1696
Number of pages11
JournalAnnals of biomedical engineering
Volume46
Issue number10
Early online date21 May 2018
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 15 Oct 2018

Keywords

  • UT-Hybrid-D
  • Pneumatics
  • Magnetic resonance imaging
  • Stepper motor
  • Rapid prototyping

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