News Releases & Research Results Team conducts the first clinical study with a medical robot for needle insertion (Zerobot®) developed by Okayama University. Succeeds in all 10 patients!

Results of research and development by a group of Research Professor Takao Hiraki of the Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Associate Professor Takayuki Matsuno of the Graduate School of Natural Science and Technology, Instructor Tetsushi Kamegawa of the Graduate School of Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering in Health Systems of Okayama University, and others.

• With a medical robot for needle insertion to be used for diagnosis and treatment of cancer (Zerobot^®) developed by Okayama University, the first clinical study in humans was conducted in FY 2018. This is the first needle insertion performed for a pathological examination using a robot in Japan.
• The attending physician provided a detailed explanation of the clinical study in advance to 10 patients with tumors in the kidney, lung, mediastinum, adrenal gland, or muscle, and CT-guided puncture was performed using the robot. The procedure was successful in all 10 patients as no problems with the robot or serious adverse events were observed.
• The effects of radiation exposure on practitioners/radiologists have been an issue in CT-guided puncture. Thus, remotely controlled robots for needle insertion can be expected to prevent radiation exposure to practitioners/radiologists.

This research and development was conducted with the support of Practical Research Project for Innovative Cancer Control by AMED.

The results of research and development were published on August 23 in European Radiology, a European scientific journal.

Hiraki T, et al. Robotic Needle Insertion during Computed Tomography Fluoroscopy-guided Biopsy: Prospective First-in-Human Feasibility Trial, European Radiology
DOI：10.1007/s00330-019-06409-z