Recent Patents on Needle Insertion Mechanism

Background: Needle insertion is one of the most popular procedures in minimally invasive surgery (intervention). In order to improve the precision and automatization of the intervention, robot assisted surgery system has been extensively studied. Needle insertion mechanisms are one of the essential parts in the robot assisted surgery system. Objective: By analyzing the existed needle insertion mechanisms, we can conclude the common considerations and characteristics in structural design of the needle insertion mechanism. Method: The recent typical needle insertion mechanisms are divided into two sorts (rigid needle insertion mechanisms and flexible needle insertion mechanisms) according to the types of interventional needles, and are analyzed with advantages and disadvantages, respectively. Results: The common considerations and characteristics of the structural design were concluded based on the analysis of different needle insertion mechanisms, which is beneficial for the structural design of the needle insertion mechanisms. Conclusion: In this paper, several recent patents of representative needle insertion mechanism have been summarized and analyzed, and both the advantages and the main problems have been pointed. Based on these, the development prospects of the needle insertion mechanism were explored for the robot assisted surgery.