Image Guided Percutaneous Robotic Interventions for Solid Organs

Abstract

Robotic systems for minimally invasive procedures, particularly in interventional oncology, have advanced significantly, especially for percutaneous interventions guided by CT, Cone-beam CT, and MRI. These systems, which include needle-guiding and needle-driving robots, enhance the precision of procedures like biopsy and tumor ablation. Needle-guiding robots plan and align the needle, while needle-driving robots autonomously advance it, improving needle placement accuracy, enabling out-of-plane insertion, and reducing radiation exposure. These robotic systems offer key clinical benefits, such as stable needle guidance for challenging angulated approaches and better access to lesions in confined spaces, like CT or MRI gantries. They can guide the needle to the optimal region of a lesion without the need for a second contrast injection, improving both diagnosis and treatment. While many robotic systems have been developed, only a few have reached clinical use. Early studies show promising results, but concerns about increased complexity and cost remain. Further research and clinical trials are needed to fully evaluate their value, though we believe that robotic systems will play an increasingly important role in the future of image-guided interventions, particularly for challenging tumors.