Our Goal

The aim of this project is to design, manufacture, and test an active needle prototype. By enhancing the maneuverability and safety of the active needle, we will be able to increase surgical accuracy and operational ease during procedures, therefore potentially decreasing surgical risk and patient recovery time.

Active (bendable) needles are currently being developed to improve the maneuverability and placement accuracy for various medical procedures. The purpose of this study is to design and fabricate an active needle prototype that is able to revert to its deformed shape after bending. The needle must also be capable of multi-directional deflection in order to provide optimal maneuverability for the user. It is also imperative to insulate the material to prevent excessive heat transfer to the surrounding tissues and reducing the current size to minimize pain and healing time. An schematic of an active needle prototype can be seen below.

Active needles have the potential to improve the efficiency and efficacy of many needle-based procedures such as brachytherapy, biopsy and thermal ablation. The bending of active needles enables them to maneuver around critical organs on the way to isolate and accurately reach target locations. Furthermore, the combination of an active needle with a bevel-tip can further improve maneuverability.