A study on observed ultrasonic motor-induced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) artifacts.

BACKGROUND: The safe performance of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-guided robot-assisted interventions requires full control and high precision of assistive devices. Because many currently available tools are not MRI-compatible, the characterization of existing tools and development of new ones are necessary. The purpose of this research is to identify and minimize the image artifacts generated by a USM in MR images. METHODS: The behavior of an ultrasonic motor (USM), the most common MRI-safe actuator, in a high-field scanner was investigated. The motor was located in three orientations with respect to the bore axis with the power on or off. The induced image artifacts were compared across four sequences. Three artifact reduction methods (employing ultrashort sequences, slice thickness reductions, and bandwidth increments) were tested. RESULTS: Signal voids, pileups, and geometric distortions were observed when the motor was off. The artifact size was minimal when the motor shaft was aligned with the bore axis. In addition to the above artifacts, zipper and motion artifacts were noted when the motor was running, and these artifacts increased with increasing motor speed. Increasing the bandwidth slightly reduced the artifacts. However, decreasing the slice thickness from 5 mm to 3 mm and from 5 mm to 1 mm reduced artifact size from 30% to 40% and from 60% to 75%, respectively. CONCLUSION: The image artifacts were due to the non-homogenous nature of the static and gradient fields caused by the motor structure. The operating motor interferes with the RF field, causing zipper and motion artifacts.

Development and control of a magnetorheological haptic device for robot assisted surgery.

A prototype magnetorheological (MR) fluid-based actuator has been designed for tele-robotic surgical applications. This device is capable of generating forces up to 47 N, with input currents ranging from 0 to 1.5 A. We begin by outlining the physical design of the device, and then discuss a novel nonlinear model of the device's behavior. The model was developed using the Hammerstein-Wiener (H-W) nonlinear black-box technique and is intended to accurately capture the hysteresis behavior of the MR-fluid. Several experiments were conducted on the device to collect estimation and validation datasets to construct the model and assess its performance. Different estimating functions were used to construct the model, and their effectiveness is assessed based on goodness-of-fit and final-prediction-error measurements. A sigmoid network was found to have a goodness-of-fit of 95%. The model estimate was then used to tune a PID controller. Two control schemes were proposed to eliminate the hysteresis behavior present in the MR fluid device. One method uses a traditional force feedback control loop and the other is based on measuring the magnetic field using a Hall-effect sensor embedded within the device. The Hall-effect sensor scheme was found to be superior in terms of cost, simplicity and real-time control performance compared to the force control strategy.

Signal-to-noise ratio evaluation of magnetic resonance images in the presence of an ultrasonic motor.

BACKGROUND: Safe robot-assisted intervention using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) guidance requires the precise control of assistive devices, and most currently available tools are rarely MRI-compatible. To obtain high precision, it is necessary to characterize and develop existing MRI-safe actuators for use in a high magnetic field (≥3 T). Although an ultrasonic motor (USM) is considered to be an MRI-safe actuator, and can be used in the vicinity of a high field scanner, its presence interferes with MR images. Although an MR image provides valuable information regarding the pathology of a patient's body, noise, generally of a granular type, decreases the quality of the image and jeopardizes the true evaluation of any existing pathological issues. An eddy current induced in the conductor material of the motor structure can be a source of noise when the motor is close to the isocenter of the image. We aimed to assess the effects of a USM on the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of MR images in a 3-T scanner. The SNR was compared for four image sequences in transverse directions for three orientations of the motor (x, y, and z) when the motor was in the "off" state. The SNR was evaluated to assess three artifact reduction methods used to minimize the motor-induced artifacts. RESULTS: The SNR had a range of 5-10 dB for slices close to the motor in the x and y orientations, and increased to 15-20 dB for slices far from the motor. Averaging the SNR for slices in all cases gave an SNR loss of about 10 dB. The maximum SNR was measured in the z orientation. In this case, the SNR loss was almost the same as that of other motor orientations, approximately 10 dB, but with a higher range, approximately 20-40 dB. CONCLUSIONS: The selection of certain scanning parameters is necessary for reducing motor-generated artifacts. These parameters include slice selection and bandwidth. In developing any MRI-compatible assisted device actuated by a USM, this study recommends the use of an approximately 3-mm slice thickness with minimum bandwidth to achieve optimized SNR values when a USM is operating close to (within approximately 40 mm) the region being imaged. The SNR can be further enhanced by increasing the number of signal averages, but this is achieved only at the cost of increased scan duration.

Experimental analysis of robot-assisted needle insertion into porcine liver.

How to improve placement accuracy of needle insertion into liver tissue is of paramount interest to physicians. A robot-assisted system was developed to experimentally demonstrate its advantages in needle insertion surgeries. Experiments of needle insertion into porcine liver tissue were performed with conic tip needle (diameter 8 mm) and bevel tip needle (diameter 1.5 mm) in this study. Manual operation was designed to compare the performance of the presented robot-assisted system. The real-time force curves show outstanding advantages of robot-assisted operation in improving the controllability and stability of needle insertion process by comparing manual operation. The statistics of maximum force and average force further demonstrates robot-assisted operation causes less oscillation. The difference of liver deformation created by manual operation and robot-assisted operation is very low, 1 mm for average deformation and 2 mm for maximum deformation. To conclude, the presented robot-assisted system can improve placement accuracy of needle by stably control insertion process.

Design and development of magnetorheological fluid-based passive actuator.

We present the design and experimental validation of a magnetorheological (MR) fluid-based passive actuator for tele-robotic bone biopsy procedures. With Finite Element Method Magnet (FEMM) software, the required uniform magnetic field circuit design was simulated. An 1100 turn 24 AWG copper wire coil wrapped around a magnetic core was used to create a magnetic field. The field strength was measured with a Hall effect sensor, and compared to the simulation. The maximum magnetic field flux produced by a constant current of 1.4 A was 0.2 T, similar to the simulation results. A series of quasi-static experiments were conducted to characterize the forces generated by the MR fluid-based actuator under various currents up to 12 N. An analytical model was developed to validate the measurements from the passive actuator.

Hardware flexibility of laboratory automation systems: analysis and new flexible automation architectures.

Development of flexible laboratory automation systems has attracted tremendous attention in recent years as biotechnology scientists perform diverse types of protocols and tend to continuously modify them as part of their research. This article is a system level study of hardware flexibility of laboratory automation architectures for high-throughput automation of various sample preparation protocols. Hardware flexibility (system components' adaptability to protocol variations) of automation systems is addressed through the introduction of three main parametric flexibility measures functional, structural, and throughput. A new quantitative measurement method for these parameters in the realm of the Axiomatic Theory is introduced in this article. The method relies on defining probability of success functions for flexibility parameters and calculating their information contents. As flexibility information content decreases, automation system flexibility increases.