Design and Validation of a Robotic Needle Positioning System for Small Animal Imaging Applications

A needle-positioning robot has been developed for image-guided interventions in small animals. The device is designed to position a needle with an error les100 mum. The robot has two rotational axes (pitch and roll) to control needle orientation, and one linear axis to perform needle insertion. The three axes intersect at a single point, creating a remote center of motion. Needle positioning error was quantified at ten target locations for each rotational plane. The measured needle positioning accuracy in free space was 54plusmn12 mum and 91plusmn21 mum for the pitch and roll axes, respectively. The device´s accuracy compares favorably with the sizes of typical interventional targets in mouse models