# Adaptive Percutaneous Prostate Interventions using Sensorized Needle

> **NIH NIH R01** · BRIGHAM AND WOMEN'S HOSPITAL · 2020 · $558,291

## Abstract

Project Summary / Abstract
 Inaccurate needle placement hampers the clinical outcomes of targeted prostate biopsy and focal
ablations of prostate cancer despite the recent advancement in image-guidance techniques including in-bore
MRI guidance and MR-TRUS fusion. In particular, the deviation of the needle from the intended insertion path
due to the interaction between the needle and the surrounding tissue is a major cause of inaccurate needle
placement. Our long-term goal is to develop and validate closed-loop adaptive needle insertion control to
compensate for the needle deviation during needle insertion for targeted biopsy and focal treatment in the
prostate. The specific contribution of this proposal is to develop and validate optical fiber-based shape-sensing
needle (sensorized needle) that can detect the deviation of the needle in vivo and feed it back to the physician
in real-time. Our hypothesis is that real-time feedback from the sensorized needle, using fiber Bragg gratings
(FBG) optical fibers, will allow the physician to compensate for the deviation of the needle, and hence minimize
the targeting errors. The technique can be combined with any type of imaging modalities, including TRUS and
MRI. We will pursue the following four specific aims to test our hypothesis: (1) Develop and validate an
optimized sensorized needle with embedded FBG strain sensors, (2) Develop and validate an adaptive needle
guide device, and (3) validate closed-loop adaptive needle placement using the sensorized needle in vivo
under MR guidance. The study will allow us to collect pilot data necessary to validate new, less invasive
methods of prostate cancer treatment in a future clinical study. The proposed research is innovative because it
will address the issue of needle deviation without predicting it by mechanically modeling individual patients,
and potentially reduce false negatives in biopsies or suboptimal ablations in focal treatments. The new
technology can be deployed in the existing clinical setup regardless of the type of guidance used (i.e. whether
in-bore MR-guidance or MR-TRUS fusion guidance).

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9985764
- **Project number:** 5R01CA235134-02
- **Recipient organization:** BRIGHAM AND WOMEN'S HOSPITAL
- **Principal Investigator:** Nobuhiko Hata
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $558,291
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-08-01 → 2022-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9985764

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9985764, Adaptive Percutaneous Prostate Interventions using Sensorized Needle (5R01CA235134-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9985764. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*