Radioactive Seed Implantation Puncture Robot (CN110548218A)

Radioactive particle implantation puncture robot (Chinese invention patent CN110548218A)

A radioactive particle implant puncture robot includes an ultrasonic peripheral module, a needle advancement module, a needle storage module and a needle delivery module. The focus of this solution is to incorporate “automatic needle exchange” into the overall robotic process, thereby reducing the manual back-and-forth needle exchange during surgery and improving the efficiency of particle implantation.

Patent information

Public account	CN110548218A
Application number	201910808516.1
Application date	2019.08.29
Announcement date	2019.12.10
Invention name	Radioactive particle implantation puncture robot
applicant	Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
inventor	Teng Gaojun, Zhou Shoujun, Lin Xiaofeng, Wang Cheng, Zhang Yi, Wen Tiexiang, Lu Jian
Classification number	A61M 36/04; A61B 34/30

Core structure and innovation points

• The ultrasonic peripheral module is responsible for holding the terminal puncture needle and can switch between the needle exchange position and the puncture position.
• The needle advancement module is responsible for both axial advancement/extraction and posture rotation, and is the key to switching the movement of the entire machine.
• The needle storage module organizes multiple puncture needles into storage locations and supports automatic rotation to the needle retrieval position.
• The needle delivery module uses electric clamps and horizontal transfer components to send new needles from the storage module to the automatic clamping mechanism.
• The particle propulsion module continues to take over particle pushing and force feedback after the needle exchange is completed, forming a complete link of puncture, indwelling, and needle exchange.

Technical background

This patent is aimed at particle implantation treatment scenarios for malignant tumors. In traditional procedures, tumors often require puncture and implantation of radioactive seeds in multiple locations, and each implantation requires the replacement of puncture needles, which causes the surgeon to frequently travel back and forth during the operation, prolongs the operation time, and is not conducive to the patient’s recovery.

The entry point of this invention is clear: instead of simply improving a certain puncture actuator, it solves “automatic needle exchange” as a system-level problem, integrating needle warehouse, clamping, delivery, advancement and particle loading into the same robot structure.

Automatic needle exchange and implantation process

1. After completing one seed implantation, the needle advancement module rotates the ultrasound peripheral module to the needle exchange position.
2. The needle storage module sends the next needle storage bin containing puncture needles to the needle transfer position.
3. The needle delivery module’s motorized clamp picks up the new needle and feeds it axially into the automatic clamping assembly.
4. The system re-rotates to the puncture position, and the particle propulsion module completes particle push and force feedback detection.

patent value

Judging from the patent text, the core value of this solution is to institutionalize and automate the transmission, transfer, clamping and repositioning of the puncture needle, thus preventing the doctor from manually changing the needle after each implantation. For surgical scenarios with high repetitiveness and high rhythm requirements such as radioactive particle implantation, this system design is very meaningful to improve surgical efficiency.

For my own research path, this is also a very typical case of systematic design of medical robots: it not only focuses on the execution end, but also incorporates consumable management, module switching and intraoperative workflow into the design.

Picture information