Research on Prostate Brachytherapy Robot Design and Puncture Control Strategy

Background

In prostate brachytherapy, oblique-tip needles are frequently used to deliver radioactive seeds to the target area. These needles often experience deflection during insertion, leading to deviations from the planned trajectory and compromising treatment accuracy.

Method

This study did not involve human participants or animals, and therefore, ethics review and approval were not required. The proposed method combines preoperative needle trajectory planning with real-time intraoperative corrections, using an adaptive PID controller enhanced by reinforcement learning to adjust corrective forces during needle insertion.

Results

Experimental results demonstrated that the proposed method reduced the average seed implantation error to 1.92 mm, with a standard error of 0.56 mm. These findings indicate that the method minimises needle deflection and improves precision in seed implantation.

Conclusion

The proposed modular robotic system and puncture control method enhance the precision of seed implantation and show promise for improving treatment outcomes in prostate cancer therapy.