STTR Phase I: A steerable needle to enable precise and minimally invasive delivery of treatments, ablation therapy and tissue biopsies.

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase I project include enabling the minimally invasive treatment of a large variety of conditions. This is expected to be achieved through the development of a steerable needle that can reach arbitrary positions in the human body that are not reachable by a straight needle from a simple needle hole. The long term impact of the proposed technology is in targeted delivery of medicine, or the removal of tissue such as biopsies, or treatment mechanisms such as ablation devices. An overarching goal of the proposed project is the availability of minimally invasive procedures that can replace more drastic surgery options. The development of this device has the potential to also save lives, treating what otherwise would be inoperable conditions due to the location of tumors blocked by sensitive organs or bones. The proposed project, if successful, will lead to demonstrating the application of a device that utilizes the buckling behavior of semi-curved beams to controllably alter the stiffness in a needle for cancer treatment and measure its efficacy in terms of the advantages over straight needles. The objectives of this research include: developing a prototype and match to surgeon use cases (interventional radiologist) and testing and characterizing the steerability performance while delivering the medical payload. Specifically, it is expected that the first therapeutic application of this technology will be microwave ablation of cancer tumors.