Needle Biopsy And Fiber-Optic Compatible Robotic Insertion Platform

Abstract: Tissue biopsy is the gold standard for diagnosing many diseases, involving the extraction of diseased tissue for histopathology analysis by expert pathologists. However, this procedure has two main limitations: 1) Manual sampling through tissue biopsy is prone to inaccuracies; 2) The extraction process is followed by a time-consuming pathology test. To address these limitations, we present a compact, accurate, and maneuverable robotic insertion platform to overcome the limitations in traditional histopathology. Our platform is capable of steering a variety of tools with different sizes, including needle for tissue extraction and optical fibers for vibrational spectroscopy applications. This system facilitates the guidance of end-effector to the tissue and assists surgeons in navigating to the biopsy target area for multi-modal diagnosis. In this paper, we outline the general concept of our device, followed by a detailed description of its mechanical design and control scheme. We conclude with the validation of the system through a series of tests, including positioning accuracy, admittance performance, and tool insertion efficacy.