The solution is viewed as a good fit for less experienced physicians, and is expected to reduce demand for MR time, which is often expensive and plagued by backlogs, without degrading quality of care. It also mitigates the negative impact that patient breathing can have on imaging workflow, according to Fournelle.

“Each time the patient breathes in or out, the positions of the internal organs shift. The physician must therefore plan and perform the biopsy in one and the same breathing phase,” he said. “Otherwise, the organs will have moved as a result of the change in lung volume and there is a risk that the needle will be off target and fail to hit the suspect tissue.”


Tests on a phantom model support the functioning of the combined hardware and software, and proposals for clinical studies have now been submitted.

Also involved in the project are scientists from the Fraunhofer Institute for Digital Medicine MEVIS and Saarland University Medical Center. Saarland is expected to begin conducting the clinical studies over the next few months. The research team will also showcase an initial demonstration model of the system from Nov. 18-21 at the MEDICA trade fair in Düsseldorf.

Funding of €1.4 million (more than $1.5 million) was provided by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).

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