CoBra robot for localized cancer treatment and diagnosis under real-time MRI

Abstract

Cooperative Brachytherapy (CoBra) project intends to perform localized cancer treatment and biopsy of soft-tissues. The robot executes needle insertion within the MRI-scanner, performing adaptive prostate brachytherapy under real-time (RT) imaging. An active steerable-needle under closed-loop control is used to achieve precise positioning of the seed. Dose calculation under RT-MRI is achieved by the generation of synthetic-CT datasets based on a Machine-learning algorithm. Needle trajectory planning based on a steerable needle with minimal entry points is optimized by an algorithm depending upon the target, seed plan, and prostate contours attained from MRI. A bio-inspired active phantom is designed for concept validation.