The iSYS robot, descendant of the B-ROBs

Researchers at the recently introduced ACMIT center (originally working for IMA, and before at Seibersdorf) have earned the merit for developing a compact and practical needle holding robot, historically called B-Rob, the biopsy robot.

The original one was developed for CT and ultrasound-guided biopsies by the robotics laboratory of ARC Seibersdorf Research (Austria). The first B-Rob prototype was a 7 DOF robot integrated on a mobile rack. A 4 DOF positioning stage was used to direct the needle to the desired skin entry point. The complete system was thoroughly tested on needle-penetrable phantoms, where its application accuracy was 1.48 ± 0.62 mm, which was shown to be better than the traditional free-hand technique [Cleary et al., 2006].

The development of the second prototype was motivated by the aim to provide a modular setup for a broad variety of clinical applications, easy integration with other systems, reduction of technical complexity and costs. The robot was equipped with a Needle Positioning Unit (NPU) for fine orientation. The first gel phantom tests of the B-Rob II showed 0.66 ± 0.27 mm application accuracy in IG positioning. In-vitro trials with ultrasound guided biopsy specimen harvests followed, where the mean deviation of the needle tip from the center of the target was 1.1 ± 0.8 mm.

The latest version of the robot got new controllers and, a decent design, and receiving clearance these days under the branding of the iSYS company.There are a handful of the devices around the world by now, used routinley in reseach.