A HIFU robot for transperineal treatment of prostate cancer

Abstract

Prostate cancer accounts for 29% of all cancers diagnosed in males in the United States. Present therapeutic procedures for prostate cancer are either invasive or minimally invasive. However, recent advances in technology (e.g. High Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU)) allow the possibility of also non-invasive therapeutic procedures. This paper describes localizing the position of the prostate using an ultrasound probe. With this information, the robot can accurately manipulate a non-invasive therapeutic tool, such as HIFU, to an area of interest in the prostate via the transperineal route.