An Aiming Device for Steerable Needles

Steerable needles are capable of curved paths through soft tissues, which is useful for steering around obstacles and compensating for deviations from the intended needle path. However, the ability to reach a desired target still depends on setting the initial needle launch pose such that the desired target is within the needle’s workspace. Thus, it is desirable to have a means of adjusting the needle’s launch orientation locally at the tissue entry point. In this paper we present a new aiming device for steerable needles that locally adjusts needle launch orientation. It consists of a tendon-actuated, notched tube design, which enables adjustment of the needle’s initial orientation.