A study on the safety and efficacy of a robotic-assisted navigation and positioning system in CT-guided percutaneous biopsy of thoracic and abdominal tumors

ABSTRACT Objective: To compare the safety, accuracy, and application efficacy of a computed tomography (CT)-guided robotic-assisted navigation system and conventional CT-guided percutaneous puncture biopsy techniques for thoracic and abdominal tumor puncture biopsies. Methods: A total of 140 patients with thoracic or abdominal tumors who were scheduled to undergo CT-guided percutaneous puncture biopsy were randomly assigned to the robotic navigation system puncture group and the traditional step-by-step puncture group. Postoperative tissue specimens and pathological diagnosis results were obtained. The success rate of localization, number of adjustments, localization time, and number of CT scans were used as evaluation indicators. In addition, the surgical safety indicators were observed, and the homogeneity differences between the two groups were compared. Results: The robotic navigation group had significantly higher success rates of localization (84.1% vs. 43.7%), fewer adjustment times (1.51 ± 1.48 vs. 3.51 ± 3.05), and fewer CT scan times (4.99 ± 2.11 vs. 7.11 ± 3.74) than the traditional puncture group (P < 0.05). However, no statistically significant differences were observed in the localization times of chest operation and the occurrence of complications between the two groups. Conclusion: The robotic puncture navigation system improves the success rate of localization and reduces the number of puncture adjustments and CT scans; therefore, it is superior to the traditional step-by-step puncture method.