MR conditional prostate intervention systems and actuations review

Abstract

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has the ability to provide high-resolution images of soft tissues without the use of radiation. So much research has been focused on the development of actuators and robotic devices that can be used in the MRI environment so “real-time” images can be obtained during surgeries. With real-time guidance from MRI, robots can perform surgical procedures with high accuracy and through less invasive routes. This technique can also significantly reduce the operation time and simplify pre-surgical procedures. Therefore, research on robot-assisted MRI-guided prostate intervention has attracted a great deal of interest, and several successful clinical trials have been published in recent years, pointing to the great potential of this technology. However, the development of MRI-guided robots is still in the primary stage, and collaboration between researchers and commercial suppliers is still needed to improve such robot systems. This review presents an overview of MRI-guided prostate intervention devices and actuators. Additionally, the expected technical challenges and future advances in this field are discussed.