- Helen Xu: Queen's University, Kingston, Canada. helen@cs.queensu.ca
Prostate Cancer is a major health threat for men. For over five years, the U.S. National Cancer Institute has performed prostate biopsies with a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-guided robotic system.
PURPOSE: A retrospective evaluation methodology and analysis of the clinical accuracy of this system is reported.
METHODS: Using the pre and post-needle insertion image volumes, a registration algorithm that contains a two-step rigid registration followed by a deformable refinement was developed to capture prostate dislocation during the procedure. The method was validated by using three-dimensional contour overlays of the segmented prostates and the registrations were accurate up to 2 mm.
RESULTS: It was found that tissue deformation was less of a factor than organ displacement. Out of the 82 biopsies from 21 patients, the mean target displacement, needle placement error, and clinical biopsy error was 5.9 mm, 2.3 mm, and 4 mm, respectively.
CONCLUSION: The results suggest that motion compensation for organ displacement should be used to improve targeting accuracy.