Article intro -- Needle and Biopsy Robots

This article is part of the Springer Topical Collection on Medical and Surgical Robotics in Current Robotics Reports: "Needle and Biopsy Robots: a Review by Françoise J. Siepel & Bogdan Maris & Marcel K. Welleweerd & Vincent Groenhuis & Paolo Fiorini & Stefano Stramigioli

Abstract
Purpose of the review Robotics is a rapidly advancing field, and its introduction in healthcare can have a multitude of benefits for clinical practice. Especially, applications depending on the radiologist’s accuracy and precision, such as percutaneous interventions, may profit. This paper provides an overview of recent robot-assisted percutaneous solutions. Recent findings Percutaneous interventions are relatively simple and the quality of the procedure increases a lot by introducing robotics due to the improved accuracy and precision. The success of the procedure is heavily dependent on the ability to merge pre- and  intraoperative images, as an accurate estimation of the current target location allows to exploit the robot’s capabilities. Summary Despite much research, the application of robotics in some branches of healthcare is not commonplace yet. Recent advances in percutaneous robotic solutions and imaging are highlighted, as they will pave the way to more widespread implementation of robotics in clinical practice.

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