Requirements for transitioning a new robotic needle-guide from biopsy to therapy applications

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Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men in industrialized countries. With the tremendous advanced in imaging, in particular magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), multi-parametric MRI is now enabling more accurate localization of cancerous regions within the prostate and opens-up new treatment possibilities. One of them is prostate focal therapy, which consist in the treatment of only the cancer proven zone(s) within the prostate. This approach is expected to lead to reduce toxicity and better quality of life. The present proposal is related to a new biomedical technology enabling accurate, real-time MRI-guided biopsy taking using a robotic needle guide developed by Polymer Robotics from Sherbrooke, Quebec. This device is unique and the propose research intends to evaluate the capacity of the device to also perform needle-based therapy such as (but not limited to) brachytherapy, cryotherapy and many others. There is currently no such robotic device on the market that can perform both diagnostic procedures (biopsy) and therapy procedures under real-time MRI.