The development of intraoperative MRI emerged to address limitations associated with using static preoperative imaging for surgical guidance. This tissue shift is particularly problematic for procedures where targeting accuracy is paramount to achieving a favorable outcome 5, 20 or when intraprocedural discrimination between diseased and healthy tissue relies on advanced imaging techniques such as MRI 14, 18, 21. The introduction of needles, resection of tissues, or performance of a craniotomy to gain surgical access to the brain can result in shifting and deformation of soft tissues in the area of interest 15, 16, 17, 18, 19. However, preoperatively acquired images can quickly become useless due to procedure-induced changes in the tissue geometry or environment. The ability to visualize anatomical structure and pathology of soft tissues in exquisite detail, as well as provide functional information, has made MRI indispensable for the preoperative planning of neurosurgeries 2, 3, 4, 5, orthopedic procedures 6, 7, tissue biopsies 8, 9, 10, and cancer therapies 11, 12, 13, 14.
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can volumetrically image the human body in a non-invasive manner without the use of ionizing radiation 1. Our electromagnetic servomotor can be safely operated (while imaging) in the patient area of a 3 Tesla clinical MRI scanner.
Using this servomotor design, we then build and test an MRI-compatible robot which can achieve the linear forces required to insert a large-diameter biopsy instrument in tissue during simultaneous MRI. Here we report an electromagnetic servomotor constructed from non-magnetic components, where high-torque and controlled rotary actuation is produced via interaction between electrical current in the servomotor armature and the magnetic field generated by the superconducting magnet of the MRI scanner itself.
However, functional MRI-compatible robotics have not yet been realized in part because conventional electromagnetic servomotors can become dangerous projectiles near the strong magnetic field of an MRI scanner. The soft-tissue imaging capabilities of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) combined with high precision robotics has the potential to improve the precision and safety of a wide range of image-guided medical procedures.
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