An overview of systems for CT- and MRI-guided percutaneous needle placement in the thorax and abdomen.

Background: Minimally invasive biopsies, drainages and therapies in the soft tissue organs of the thorax and abdomen are typically performed through a needle, which is inserted percutaneously to reach the target area. The conventional workflow for needle placement employs an iterative freehand technique. This article provides an overview of needle-placement systems developed to improve this method.
Methods: An overview of systems for needle placement was assembled, including those found in scientific publications and patents, as well as those that are commercially available. The systems are categorized by function and tabulated.
Results: Over 40 systems were identified, ranging from simple passive aids to fully actuated robots.
Conclusions: The overview shows a wide variety of developed systems with growing complexity. However, given that only a few systems have reached commercial availability, it is clear that the technical community is struggling to develop solutions that are adopted clinically. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
(Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.)