Accuracy validation for MRI-guided robotic prostate biopsy

We report a quantitative evaluation of the clinical accuracy of a MRI-guided robotic prostate biopsy system that has been in use for over five years at the U. S. National Cancer Institute. A two-step rigid volume registration using mutual information between the pre and post needle insertion images was performed. Contour overlays of the prostate before and after registration were used to validate the registration. A total of 20 biopsies from 5 patients were evaluated. The maximum registration error was 2 mm. The mean biopsy target displacement, needle placement error, and biopsy error was 5.4 mm, 2.2 mm, and 5.1 mm respectively. The results show that the pre-planned biopsy target did dislocate during the procedure and therefore causing biopsy errors.