Developing and testing robotic MRI/CT fusion biopsy using a novel home-made interventional phantom

Abstract

MRI/CT fusion may enable MRI-guided biopsy without the requirement for dedicated interventional MRI facilities. Assessment and training in MRI/CT-fusion biopsy requires phantoms containing targets that can be seen on MRI but not on CT and can be biopsied. These requirements are not met using commercially available phantoms. We produced a phantom containing targets that can be appreciated on MRI but not CT, which is reproducible, can be biopsied and assessed for core adequacy. We successfully biopsied targets (1-3cm diameter) using a commercially available interventional robot equipped with work-in-progress MRI/CT-fusion software, including targets with steep out-of-plane angulations, within clinically reasonable timeframes.