AI Powered robotics
ROBIOPSY will transform the prostate biopsy laboratory prototype developed during PROST Project into a product prototype that will be ready for clinical trials.
The prototype will consist of a single cart that will support the robotic needle positioner and house all the electronic components which will be divided into two subsystems to reduce operational risks and simplify medical certification.
STATE OF THE ART
Nowadays, to perform a biopsy on suspect tissues, physicians mostly adopt the so-called Freehand Transrectal Ultrasound (TRUS) or, alternatively, Transperineal (TPUS) Ultrasound technique.
Surgeons manually identify the prostate capsule through real-time ultrasound (US) images and overlay MRI to US images to pinpoint the lesion locations, since they are mostly not visible in the US images.
Tissue samples are then collected by manually reaching the lesions with a biopsy needle either through the rectum (transrectal) or the perineum (transperineal) and harvesting the tissue.
Failures in identifying the lesion locations and the lack of accuracy of the needle lead to a high false-negative rate
>23%
False-negative Rate
ROBIOPSY INNOVATION
ROBIOPSY plays a vital part in the paradigm shift in biopsy procedures that can turn a subjective and operator-dependent procedure into a safer and more accurate diagnostic tool, transitioning the first prototype – PROST – into a more clinical trials ready prototype.
This system will allow to treat patients earlier, and its “one–insertion to target” capability makes the procedure predictable and efficient.
It requires a minimal learning curve and is a completely mobile system. Preclinical testing will be conducted under strict medical certification regulations and health economic implications will be addressed.
Robiopsy will achieve better performance than current competitors because it addresses the two main causes of diagnostic error related to prostate cancer: uncertain target identification and imprecise needle placement, as demonstrated in preclinical testing.
A new image fusion method will significantly reduce the uncertainty of the target, while the robotic device will zero the positioning error.
Robiopsy will achieve better performance than current competitors because it addresses the two main causes of diagnostic error related to prostate cancer: uncertain target identification and imprecise needle placement, as demonstrated in preclinical testing.