The field of this assignment research is in robots for biopsy of MRI-visible lesions. One particular disease that affects the breast is cancer which poses a significant risk to the patient if left un-treated. Among females, breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer and the leading cause of death worldwide. During the diagnosis phase, imaging techniques can be used to detect one or more suspicious lesions that need to be investigated further. The biopsy procedure involves inserting a hollow needle towards the lesion followed by a firing sequence in which a sample of the lesion is cut off and later extracted for further investigation. MRI guided biopsy is one of the surest methods of correctly identifying suspicious lesions and extracting them.
Since the accuracy of manual biopsy based on MRI scan is comparatively low, a set of robotic systems were developed to perform MRI compatible robot assisted biopsy. The systems are currently in the 5th generation of development and the current robot, the SUNRAM 5, is a 5DOF robot driven by 6 linear and curved pneumatic stepper motors & 3 cylinders all constructed using rapid prototyping. The SUNRAM 5 robot includes a breast fixation system, an emergency needle ejection mechanism and fast and precise needle insertions under near real-time MRI guidance.
The current SUNRAM 5 robot is controlled using valves which have a specific opening sequence and these valves and the controller are placed outside the faraday cage of the MRI scanner. The SUNRAM 5 has a unique Breast Fixation System that was inspired from the original design by Machnet B.V. However, the current SUNRAM 5 robot has not been evaluated with respect to the breast fixation system. The aim of this assignment is to evaluate the current SUNRAM 5 robot while using the unique breast fixation system. Furthermore, the research will also be extended to evaluate the robot performance while using the breast fixation system after implementation of autonomous operating capability. It is believed that, if implemented, this could further improve the accuracy of the robot and reduce human interference to a minimum.