Development of Robot for CT-guided Interventional Radiology

Abstract

Computed tomography (CT)-guided interventional procedures are performed by inserting a specific needle into a lesion under CT-guidance. Such procedures include cancer ablation, biopsy, and abscess drainage. The procedures are minimally invasive and thus their need is increasing in the super-aging society. However, major limitation is intraprocedural radiation exposure to the physicians, because they have to be close to CT gantry during CT scanning. In order to address this concern, I, together with robotic engineers, started to develop a robot (Zerobot®) at Okayama University in 2012. The robot for clinical study was completed at the end of 2015. The robot has six degrees of freedom to hold, position, orient, and insert a needle under CT-guidance. The robot may be remotely controlled by using an operation interface and thus, the physicians may be free from radiation exposure. In 2018, we have performed a first-in-human study for 10 cases of CT-guided biopsy using the robot in the kidney, lung, adrenal grand, mediastinum, and muscle, which resulted in success in all cases. We will start an investigator-initiated clinical study based on Good Clinical Practice in 2020, aiming at commercialization of the robot.