Cscbce 2010

5th Canadian Student Conference on Biomedical Computing and Engineering May 20-22, 2010

Role of Image Processing, Navigation and Robots in Image-guided Intervention

Nobuhiko Hata, PhD

• Associate Professor of Radiology, Harvard Medical School
• Technical Director, Image Guided Therapy Program, Brigham and Women’s Hospital
• Director, Surgical Navigation and Robotics Laboratory
• L1-050, Department of Radiology, Brigham and Women’s Hospital
• 75 Francis St., Boston, MA 02115

Image-guided surgery is a promising method of cure to achieve minimal trauma, fast patient recovery, and reduction of clinical cost. Images used for navigation can be either pre-operative diagnostic images and/or intra-operative images. We have also observed the prevalence of surgical robots in clinics in the past decade giving an impact on medical care. The aim of this presentation is to discuss the new dimension of minimally invasive surgery we can explore by integrating intra- and pre-operative imaging and surgical robots. The robot presented in my talk can compensate for the motion of the organs and guide the precision surgery by using intra-operative images as a digital map for robot control, without which we cannot perform image-guided intervention of dynamically moving organs. The need for image-guided robotics is further highlighted in our long-term clinical goal in the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, to perform therapies in contemporary high-field, closed-bore MRI scanners, 3D Ultrasound, CT, and/or PET/CT that provide better delineation of disease lesion, and that becoming to be prevalent in hospitals and clinics worldwide. I will present our pilot studies from MR-guided ablation and needle therapies where we studied tissue-needle interaction, biomechanical modeling of tissue deformation, and merit of needle guidance by a MR-compatible robot. Those studies will eventually migrate into our motion control method of a close-bore MRIcompatible robot that drives therapy needles toward the targets under intra-operative image guidance and control. For more information about my talk and exciting research opportunities at the Image Guided Therapy Program at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, visit www.snrlab.org , www.ncigt.org, and www.na-mic.org.