Cable-Driven Parallel Robot-Based Needle Steering for Imaging-Compatible Interventional Procedures
Seongho Son, Ayoung Hong
AI summary
Problem
Conventional robotic needle steering platforms are often bulky and interfere with X-ray imaging, while simpler base-rotation methods lack the flexibility needed for precise curved trajectories in soft tissue.
Approach
The system uses a cable-driven parallel robot with eight cables and a Bowden cable to remotely control the needle's base pose, leveraging the natural curvature of bevel-tip needles for steering.
Key results
- Steering direction successfully regulated by adjusting bevel-tip orientation
- Continuous axial rotation effectively reduces needle curvature for straighter paths
- Obstacle-avoidance insertion to a target achieved in gelatin phantom trials
- System demonstrates reliable, imaging-compatible needle guidance without tip sensing
Why it matters
Provides a compact, fluoroscopy-compatible robotic platform that expands precise needle steering capabilities for minimally invasive surgical procedures.
Abstract
Accurate needle steering using bevel-tip needles remains challenging due to nonlinear needle–tissue interactions and structural limitations of conventional robotic insertion systems in imaging-guided environments. This paper presents a cable-driven parallel robot (CDPR)-based needle steering framework that enables curvature-induced steering through coordinated control of the needle base pose. The proposed system provides 6-DoF needle orientation control using eight cables and an additional Bowden cable mechanism for ax- ial rotation. Phantom insertion experiments demonstrate that steering direction can be regulated by bevel-tip orientation and that obstacle-avoidance insertion toward a desired target location is achievable. These results confirm the feasibility of CDPR-based needle steering for imaging-compatible minimally invasive intervention scenarios.