Development of instantaneously puncture system for CT fluoroscopy-guided interventional radiology

There is minimally invasive method called Interventional Radiology (IR) that achieves an operation by using diagnostic imaging equipment such as Computed Tomography (CT). IR has advantages that it is a minimally invasive method and it is applied widely such as lung cancer treatment, liver cancer treatment, biopsy, and so on. However, it has a problem that doctors are exposed by X-ray due to a procedure in the vicinity of the CT gantry. To solve this problem, we have developed a robot so we calling "Zerobot". Zerobot has six DOF and controlled remotely. We previously conducted animal experiment using a rabbit to evaluate Zerobot. As a result, percutaneous puncture was impossible without epidermis cutting. Therefore, we developed a new function called instantaneously puncture that can achieve high speed and short stroke puncture like a human operator. In this paper, overview of Zerobot is described first. Then, measurement of puncture speed of a human operator is described. Furthermore, design and system structure of instantaneously puncture system is described. Finally, we present results of animal experiment using the instantaneously puncture system.