Biopsy robot combines MRI and ultrasound

Dutch researchers are working on a robot that can perform an MRI and an ultrasound. The biopsy robot aims reduce this percentage of false negatives in breast cancer diagnosis.

A biopsy in the MRI scanner could present a solution, explains Farimani. “MRI does not generate any radiation, has no side effects, and you can determine very precisely where you should do your biopsy. But it’s very expensive and it takes about 45 to 60 minutes a patient. Even wealthier countries can’t afford any large-scale screening programmes with MRI.” says University of Twente, Netherlands researcher Foad Sojoodi Farimani. He is one of the leaders of the project called MURAB (MRI and Ultrasound Robotic Assisted Biopsy.)

The project aims to build a robot that combines the best aspects of an MRI scan with cheaper and less precise technologies, such as an ultrasound sensor and a pressure sensor.

The robot will reduce the time spent in the MRI to just 15 to 20 minutes. “This produces an offline MRI image that you can combine, during the biopsy, with online images from the ultrasound sensor,” says Farimani. “One of the biggest challenges in this project is to use the precise MRI image to locate suspicious tissue in the much more indistinct ultrasound image.”

Researchers also see the biopsy robot diagnosing muscles disease. Ultimately, says Farimani, the robot should be used on diagnoses where a small piece of human tissue needs to be removed from the body.

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