Simulation and experimental studies in needle–tissue interactions

Abstract

This work aims to introduce a new needle insertion simulation to predict the deflection of a bevel-tip needle inside soft tissue. The development of such a model, which predicts the steering behavior of the needle during needle-tissue interactions, could improve the performance of many percutaneous needle-based procedures such as brachytherapy and thermal ablation, by means of the virtual path planning and training systems of the needle toward the target and thus reducing possible incidents of complications in clinical practices. The Arbitrary-Lagrangian-Eulerian (ALE) formulation in LS-DYNA software was used to model the solid-fluid interactions between the needle and tissue. Since both large deformation and fracture of the continuum need to be considered in this model, applying ALE method for fluid analysis was considered a suitable approach. A 150 mm long needle was used to bend within the tissue due to the interacting forces on its asymmetric bevel tip. Three experimental cases of needle steering in a soft phantom were performed to validate the simulation. An error measurement of less than 10 % was found between the predicted deflection by the simulations and the one observed in experiments, validating our approach with reasonable accuracy. The effect of the needle diameter and its bevel tip angle on the final shape of the needle was investigated using this model. To maneuver around the anatomical obstacles of the human body and reach the target location, thin sharp needles are recommended, as they would create a smaller radius of curvature. The insertion model presented in this work is intended to be used as a base structure for path planning and training purposes for future studies.

Design and evaluation of a wasp-inspired steerable needle

“…6 The smaller the bevel angle, the higher the curvature. Simulations by Konh et al 7 indicated that a decrease of the bevel angle from 60° to 20° corresponds to an increase in needle deflection from 7.3 mm to 25.5 mm for an insertion depth of 150 mm and a needle diameter of 0.64 mm. It has further been shown that the effect of the bevel angle on the steering curvature decreases for small bevel angles, with differences in deflection being barely noticeable between needles (Ø1.27 mm) with a bevel angle of 30° and 10°.…”

Integrating robot‐assisted ultrasound tracking and 3D needle shape prediction for real‐time tracking of the needle tip in needle steering procedures

“…Medical imaging in needle‐based procedures provides online (intraoperative) trajectory tracking of the needle tip that can be used to estimate the deviation from the desired trajectory. This deviation can later be used as a feedback in a control algorithm for precise needle navigation 2,3 …”

“…This deviation can later be used as a feedback in a control algorithm for precise needle navigation. 2,3 A method was developed in Uhečírk et al 4 to detect the position and orientation of a thin surgical tool such as a biopsy needle or a microelectrode using Random Sample and Consensus (RANSAC). In another work, Zhao et al 5 a Kalman filter technique and a speckle tracking method were applied for tracking metallic biopsy needles.…”

3D Manipulation of an Active Steerable Needle via Actuation of Multiple SMA Wires

“…Despite the advantages, trajectory planning with passive needles is challenging and sometimes inaccurate 7,11 due to the fact that the deflection is solely governed by complicated needle-tissue interactions. 12 Also, passive needles with a predefined shape steer in two-dimensional (2D) space with a constant radius, thereby require an axial rotation to reach the out-of-place positions. Rotation of the needle while advancing inside the tissue introduces additional complexity to the system such as discrepancies between the base and tip twist angles (mostly resulted from torsional friction) and thereby may result in poor trajectory planning.…”