Project description
Automation of the process of prostate biopsy
Prostate biopsy is carried out on more than a million patients in Europe every year, with the rate of diagnostic errors at more than 30 %. Most errors are due to human-introduced inaccuracies in identifying the correct biopsy target, and this results in repeated biopsies or unnecessary surgeries. The EU-funded PROST project will develop a basis for the introduction of an autonomous process of prostate biopsy that removes human error from the procedure. The first goal of PROST will be technical validation of the autonomous prostate biopsy system, followed by extensive tests on cadavers with the purpose to determine the clinical rationale of using an autonomous robot for prostate biopsy. Finally, the project will develop and validate a business plan for commercial exploitation of the robotic prototype.
Objective
The PROST PoC proposal aims at demonstrating the technical, clinical and economical feasibility of autonomous prostate biopsy execution, by applying the technologies developed by the ERC project ARS (Autonomous Robotic Surgery) to a robotic prostate biopsy system. Prostate biopsy is a good candidate for the application of automation in clinical practice since it is a rather simple procedure, carried out on more than 1 Mil/year patients in Europe, and still affected by a diagnostic error higher than 30%. This means that about 300,000 patients in Europe alone, are directed to therapies that will require repeated biopsies or will make the patient undergo unnecessary surgeries. Errors are mostly due to human inaccuracy in identifying the correct biopsy target and in executing the free-hand biopsy. The PROST project aims at removing the human from the identification/execution process, thus reducing the diagnosis and execution errors. The project is made feasible by two enabling factors: the on going ERC project ARS that is developing sensing and control architecture for autonomous surgical robots, and the availability of a prototype of robot for prostate biopsy developed with a grant by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation. The PROST project will integrate the sensing and control architecture with the biopsy hardware and avoid lengthy hardware and software development. Thus, the first objective of the proposal is the technical validation of the autonomous prostate biopsy system. Then, extensive cadaveric tests will determine the clinical rationale to use an autonomous robot for prostate biopsy. Finally, the third objective of PROST is to develop and validate a business case for the commercial exploitation of the PROST prototype, addressing low cost/high volume cases. The positive results of these validations will be a strong motivation for the development of a start up company that will industrialize and medically certify the system.
Fields of science
- social sciencessociologyindustrial relationsautomation
- natural sciencescomputer and information sciencessoftwaresoftware development
- engineering and technologyelectrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineeringelectronic engineeringroboticsautonomous robots
- medical and health sciencesclinical medicinesurgeryrobotic surgery
Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
ERC-POC-LS - ERC Proof of Concept Lump Sum PilotHost institution
37129 Verona
Italy