Results show that the proposed algorithm yields superior results as compared to the commonly used algorithm in terms of computational speed, form of path and robustness of searching ability, which potentially make it suitable for the real-time intraoperative planning in clinical operations. | Journal of Automation and Control Engineering Vol. 3, No. 5, October 2015 3D Motion Planning for Robot-Assisted Active Flexible Needle Based on Rapidly-Exploring Random Trees Yan-Jiang Zhao Department of Radiation Oncology, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA19107, USA Intelligent Machine Institute, Harbin University of Science and Technology, Harbin 150080, China Email: ; zhaoyj@ Bardia Konh and Mohammad Honarvar Department of Mechanical Engineering, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA 19122 USA Email: {konh, }@ Felix Orlando Maria Joseph and Tarun K. Podder Department of Radiation Oncology, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106 USA Email: {fom, }@ Parsaoran Hutapea Department of Mechanical Engineering, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA 19122 USA Email: hutapea@ Adam P. Dicker and Yan Yu Department of Radiation Oncology, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA 19107 USA Email: {, }@ biopsies and radioactive seed implantations for cancers. However, the target may be located in a region surrounded by anatomic obstacles or sensitive organs that must be avoided. Traditional rigid needles can hardly meet these needs. As an alternative to the traditional rigid needles, we have been developing a flexible needle which is an active or self-actuating (symmetric-tip) flexible needle other than passive (bevel-tip) flexible needles, see Fig. 1 [1]. Utilizing the characteristic of shape memory alloys (SMA), the needle can generate a variety of curvatures of paths by supplying different electric currents to the SMA actuators [2]-[5]. Abstract—An active flexible needle is a self-actuating needle that can bend in the tissue and reach the clinical targets while avoiding anatomic obstacles. In robot-assisted needlebased medical procedures, motion planning is a vital aspect of operations. It is challenging due to the .
