3D Dynamic Motion Planning for Robot-Assisted Cannula Flexible Needle Insertion into Soft Tissue

In robot-assisted needle-based medical procedures, insertion motion planning is a crucial aspect. 3D dynamic motion planning for a cannula flexible needle is challenging with regard to the nonholonomic motion of the needle tip, the presence of anatomic obstacles or sensitive organs in the needle path, as well as uncertainties due to the dynamic environment caused by the movements and deformations of the organs. The kinematics of the cannula flexible needle is calculated in this paper. Based on a rapid and robust static motion planning algorithm, referred to as greedy heuristic and reachability-guided rapidly-exploring random trees, a 3D dynamic motion planner is developed by using replanning. Aiming at the large detour problem, the convergence problem and the accuracy problem that replanning encounters, three novel strategies are proposed and integrated into the conventional replanning algorithm. Comparisons are made between algorithms with and without the strategies to verify their validity. Simulations showed that the proposed algorithm can overcome the above-noted problems to realize real-time replanning in a 3D dynamic environment, which is appropriate for intraoperative planning.