Hand-Held Probe MR Image-Guided Biopsy and Treatment of Prostate Cancer

摘要

A hand-held probe for the biopsy and treatment of prostate cancer is being developed in a 30 month program. The probe is designed to acquire Magnetic Resonance Images and incorporates MR tracking coils for real-time localization during biopsy. Seven tasks were proposed for the execution of this project, three of which were scheduled for completion by the end of year one. Task 3 was eliminated in the final contract negotiations and is no longer scheduled for completion. The first and second tasks, however, have been completed. In the first task, changes were made to the MR tracking software, making it more suitable for dynamic prostate imaging. In the second task, 'mock-ups' of several probes were made and evaluated in a cadaver model. The most promising design was then used to create a working prototype probe that includes MR tracking coils, an MR imaging coil and a biopsy channel. The performance of this probe was evaluated and compared to commercially available MR prostate imaging coils. The prototype probe was found to give a greater depth-of-penetration and twice the signal-to-noise ratio of the commercially available probe. The project is on schedule and no problems are anticipated in meeting the second year objectives.