Needle Deflection Estimation: Prostate Brachytherapy Phantom Experiments

Overview

Journal Int J Comput Assist Radiol Surg

Publisher Springer

Specialties General Surgery
Radiology

Date 2014 Feb 18

PMID 24531917

Citations 5

Authors

Hossein Sadjadi

Keyvan Hashtrudi-Zaad

Gabor Fichtinger

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Purpose: The performance of a fusion-based needle deflection estimation method was experimentally evaluated using prostate brachytherapy phantoms. The accuracy of the needle deflection estimation was determined. The robustness of the approach with variations in needle insertion speed and soft tissue biomechanical properties was investigated.

Methods: A needle deflection estimation method was developed to determine the amount of needle bending during insertion into deformable tissue by combining a kinematic deflection model with measurements taken from two electromagnetic trackers placed at the tip and the base of the needle. Experimental verification of this method for use in prostate brachytherapy needle insertion procedures was performed. A total of 21 beveled tip, 18 ga, 200 mm needles were manually inserted at various speeds through a template and toward different targets distributed within 3 soft tissue mimicking polyvinyl chloride prostate phantoms of varying stiffness. The tracked positions of both the needle tip and base were recorded, and Kalman filters were applied to fuse the sensory information. The estimation results were validated using ground truth obtained from fluoroscopy images.

Results: The manual insertion speed ranged from 8 to 34 mm/s, needle deflection ranged from 5 to 8 mm at an insertion depth of 76 mm, and the elastic modulus of the soft tissue ranged from 50 to 150 kPa. The accuracy and robustness of the estimation method were verified within these ranges. When compared to purely model-based estimation, we observed a reduction in needle tip position estimation error by [Formula: see text] % (mean [Formula: see text] SD) and the cumulative deflection error by [Formula: see text] %.

Conclusions: Fusion of electromagnetic sensors demonstrated significant improvement in estimating needle deflection compared to model-based methods. The method has potential clinical applicability in the guidance of needle placement medical interventions, particularly prostate brachytherapy.

Citing Articles

Assessment of needle bending and tracking requirements for optimized needle placement in combined intracavitary/interstitial gynecologic brachytherapy.

Karius A, Strnad V, Lotter M, Kreppner S, Merten R, Fietkau R Strahlenther Onkol. 2025; .

PMID: 39915305 DOI: 10.1007/s00066-025-02367-2.

Axially rigid steerable needle with compliant active tip control.

de Vries M, Sikorski J, Misra S, van den Dobbelsteen J PLoS One. 2021; 16(12):e0261089.

PMID: 34914777 PMC: 8675730. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0261089.

A review of brachytherapy physical phantoms developed over the last 20 years: clinical purpose and future requirements.

Wilby S, Palmer A, Polak W, Bucchi A J Contemp Brachytherapy. 2021; 13(1):101-115.

PMID: 34025743 PMC: 8117707. DOI: 10.5114/jcb.2021.103593.

Needle deflection and tissue sampling length in needle biopsy.

Li A, Plott J, Chen L, Montgomery J, Shih A J Mech Behav Biomed Mater. 2020; 104:103632.

PMID: 32174391 PMC: 7078072. DOI: 10.1016/j.jmbbm.2020.103632.

Improved electromagnetic tracking for catheter path reconstruction with application in high-dose-rate brachytherapy.

Lugez E, Sadjadi H, Joshi C, Akl S, Fichtinger G Int J Comput Assist Radiol Surg. 2017; 12(4):681-689.

PMID: 28215003 DOI: 10.1007/s11548-017-1534-4.

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