Background Robot‐assisted puncture has gradually attracted more attention and practical clinical application. The lesion positioning and the needle positioning are the basis to ensure the accuracy of puncture and the key techniques in insertion operation. Methods A lesion positioning method is established which is realized only by the robot‐CT system without using external positioning system, and an omnidirectional needle positioning method is also developed and realized by using VRCM, in order to make the puncture needle always keep pointing to the lesion point. A CT‐guided surgical robotic system used for minimally invasive percutaneous lung is designed and the physical prototype is manufactured, to perform in‐vitro experiments, thereby to validate the effectiveness of the lesion positioning method and the feasibility of omnidirectional needle positioning method. Results The accuracy of established lesion positioning method based on three non‐collinear markers is within 3 mm, which is similar to that of the least squares method based on the five non‐coplanar markers, but the positioning efficiency can be improved by about 40%, and the non‐collinearity of markers is easier to be satisfied than non‐coplanarity in practical applications. The average calculation error of the established positioning method is 0.997 mm. Moreover, the omnidirectional positioning of the puncture needle under the designed surgical robot is feasible. Conclusions The designed surgical robot has good control accuracy and it can satisfy the requirements for use. The established lesion positioning method can provide a good precision basis for robot‐assisted puncture surgery. The suitable insertion point and insertion posture can be determined by the developed omnidirectional needle positioning method. This study can provide theoretical reference for further study of path planning or autonomous positioning.

BackgroundAlthough asthma symptoms can be temporarily controlled, it is recommended to use effective low-risk, non-drug strategies to constitute a significant advance in asthma management. Acupuncture has been traditionally used to treat asthma; however, the evidence for the efficacy of this treatment is still lacking. Previous clinical trials of acupuncture in treating asthma were limited by methodological defects; therefore, high-quality research is required.Methods/DesignThis trial is designed as a multi-center, randomized, double-blind, parallel-group controlled trial. Patients with mild to moderate asthma will be randomly allocated to either a verum acupuncture plus as-needed salbutamol aerosol and/or prednisone tablets group or a sham acupuncture plus as-needed salbutamol aerosol and/or prednisone tablets group. Acupoints used in the verum acupuncture group are GV14 (Da Zhui), BL12 (Feng Men), BL13 (Fei Shu) and acupoints used in the sham acupuncture group are DU08 (Jin Suo), BL18 (Gan Shu), BL19 (Dan Shu). After a baseline period of 1 week, the patients in both groups will receive verum/sham acupuncture once every other day with a total of 20 treatment sessions in 6 weeks and a 3-month follow-up. The primary outcome will be measured by using the asthma control test and the secondary outcomes will be measured by using the percentage of symptom-free days, the average dosage of salbutamol aerosol and/or prednisone tablets, lung functions, daily asthma symptom scores, asthma quality of life questionnaire, and so on.DiscussionThis trial will assess the effect of acupuncture on asthma and aims to provide reliable clinical evidence for the efficacy of acupuncture in treating asthma.Trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT01931696, registered on 26 August 2013