Both breast and prostate cancer are the most common types of cancer for women and men, respectively. Determining if a suspected lesion is cancer must be done with a biopsy. This utilizes a MRI-scanner for enhanced precision. With the current available pneumatic MR-safe stepper motors, due to the long pneumatic wires (up to 10 meters), the stepper motors can operate at a maximum of 15 Hz and a step size of 0.7 mm. Averaging the duration of a biopsy at an hour (Veldwachter). This is not a problem for continuous pneumatic motors, making the procedure less time-intensive.
The goal of this assignment is the design and implementation of an MR-safe version of a rotary pneumatic engine for accurate positioning in longitudinal and normal direction for MRI-guided biopsies.