Robotic image-guided needle interventions of the prostate.

Prostate biopsy and needle-directed prostate therapies are currently performed free-handed or with needle external templates under ultrasound guidance. Direct image-guided intervention robots are modern instruments that have the potential to substantially enhance these procedures. These may increase the accuracy and repeatability with which needles are placed in the gland. The authors' group has developed a robot for precise prostate targeting that operates remotely alongside the patient in the magnetic resonance imaging scanner, as guided according to the image.