A Dual-Arm Robotics Teleoperation System for Needle Steering in Prostate Brachytherapy

Dual-arm robotics systems hold significant potential for application in surgery, particularly in scenarios involving the accurate placement of radiation seeds through long flexble needles. Employing effective visual monitoring, such a system can offer both real-time visual feedback on the needle's tip position through ultrasound imaging within the tissue. Biomedical applications, such as biopsy, brachytherapy, and micro needle-based drug delivery, stand to benefit from this technology. To address these applications, the establishment of a framework for needle tracking and steering using a dual-arm robotics system is crucial. This paper introduces the design for a dual arm system with camera and ultrasound device for needle steering inside soft tissue, using a uniform tip medical needle. It firstly locates and tracks the needle base which is attached to one of the robots. Then it allows the surgeon to select an insertion point on the tissue, for the robotic system to insert the needle into the tissue. At the same time, the portable ultrasound device tracks the position of the needle tip inside the tissue, while moving in parallel to it. The demonstrated tracking accuracy of the needle base is 3.6mm, showing the potential of using dual robotic arms in robot prostate brachytherapy procedures.