MR-Compatible Robotic Actuation Techniques for diagnostic and interventional image-guided medical procedures

• The use of robotic systems in a Magnetic Resonance Imaging environment has many applications, particularly in the area of diagnostic and interventional image-guided medical procedures. These systems have been proposed for an array of interventional procedures including prostate and breast biopsies. However, working in an MRI environment is very demanding due to the limited space of the MR-bore and the severe material constraints due to the MR magnetic and RF environment.  The large magnetic fields and sensitivity to RF noise preclude the use of ferromagnetic materials in any part of the device, all but ruling out the use of electromagnetic actuators as well as many commercially available actuators. Our research in this area focuses on the development of MR compatible actuation methods for image guided medical procedures.

Faculty:	Michael Zinn – Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Students:	Chembian Parthiban  – Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison Chris Esser  – Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Funding:	NIH SBIR (NIBIB) Wisconsin Innovation & Economic Development Research Program (IEDR)

Recent work

• IEEE/ASME Transacations on Mechatronics 2013 – Development of a Parallel Actuation Approach for MR-Compatible Robotics Abstract — In recent years, the use of robotics to augment MRI diagnostic and interventional procedures has increased significantly. However, the demanding MRI environment precludes the use of most common actuation approaches. Alternative actuation concepts have been proposed but these solutions do not lend themselves to linear control structures. We present a new actuation method, using the motion of parallel ultrasonic motors ...