ABLABREAST

ABLABREAST related to the thermal ablation of breast cancer utilising Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)-guided focused ultrasound. The goal of the project was to develop an MRI compatible robotic system offering motion in 3 degrees of freedom (DOF) able to perform non-invasive treatment of breast cancer by exploiting the effects of therapeutic ultrasound under MRI guidance. The developed robotic system was integrated with a single-element focused transducer operating at 1.1 MHz that allows adequate ablation of tissue. Both the transducer and robotic device were developed with MRI compatible materials and were successfully evaluated in an MRI system for compatibility, while the motion accuracy of the robotic device was assessed utilising digital calipers. The system was successfully evaluated for its thermal heating and targeting abilities in both a laboratory and MRI settings on excised pork tissue and agar-based breast-shaped phantoms. The developed system can be used in the future in clinical trials for treatment of breast cancer. The MRI-compatible robotic system can be integrated within the patient table of high-field MRI scanners, with the patient placed in the prone position on the MRI table with breasts immersed in the acoustic opening of the robotic device, thus achieving treatment monitoring by exploiting MR thermometry tools.