STTR Phase I: A steerable needle to enable precise and minimally invasive delivery of treatments, ablation therapy and tissue biopsies.

这项小型企业技术转让（STTR）第一阶段项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力包括实现多种疾病的微创治疗。这有望通过开发一种可操纵的针来实现，这种针可以到达人体的任意位置，而直针从简单的针孔中无法到达这些位置。拟议的技术的长期影响是药物的靶向递送，或组织的去除，如活组织检查，或治疗机制，如消融装置。该项目的首要目标是提供微创手术，以取代更激烈的手术选择。这种设备的发展也有可能挽救生命，治疗那些由于肿瘤被敏感器官或骨骼阻塞而无法手术的情况。该项目如果成功，将展示一种利用半弯曲梁的屈曲行为来可控地改变癌症治疗针的刚度的装置的应用，并测量其优于直针的功效。本研究的目标包括：开发原型并与外科医生（介入放射科医生）的使用案例相匹配，并在提供医疗有效载荷的同时测试和表征可操纵性性能。具体来说，预计这项技术的第一个治疗应用将是微波消融癌症肿瘤。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase I project include enabling the minimally invasive treatment of a large variety of conditions. This is expected to be achieved through the development of a steerable needle that can reach arbitrary positions in the human body that are not reachable by a straight needle from a simple needle hole. The long term impact of the proposed technology is in targeted delivery of medicine, or the removal of tissue such as biopsies, or treatment mechanisms such as ablation devices. An overarching goal of the proposed project is the availability of minimally invasive procedures that can replace more drastic surgery options. The development of this device has the potential to also save lives, treating what otherwise would be inoperable conditions due to the location of tumors blocked by sensitive organs or bones.The proposed project, if successful, will lead to demonstrating the application of a device that utilizes the buckling behavior of semi-curved beams to controllably alter the stiffness in a needle for cancer treatment and measure its efficacy in terms of the advantages over straight needles. The objectives of this research include: developing a prototype and match to surgeon use cases (interventional radiologist) and testing and characterizing the steerability performance while delivering the medical payload. Specifically, it is expected that the first therapeutic application of this technology will be microwave ablation of cancer tumors.