Objective: This study is to determine whether a needle guidance device combining a 3D-printed component with a smartphone would decrease the number of passes and time required to perform a standard CT-guided needle procedure in a phantom study.
Materials and methods: A 3D-printed mechanical guide with built-in apertures for various needle sizes was designed and printed. It was mounted on a smartphone and used to direct commercially available spring-loaded biopsy devices. A smartphone software application was developed to use the phone's sensors to provide the real-time location of a lesion in space, based on parameters derived from preprocedural CT images. The physical linkage of the guide, smartphone, and needle allowed the operator to manipulate the assembly as a single unit, with real-time graphical representation of the lesion shown on the smartphone display. Two radiology trainees and 3 staff radiologists targeted 5 lesions with and without the device (50 total procedures). The number of passes and time taken to reach each lesion were determined.
Results: Use of the smartphone needle guide decreased the mean number of passes (with guide, 1.8; without guide, 3.4; P < 0.001) and mean time taken (with guide, 1.6 min; without guide, 2.7 min; P = 0.005) to perform a standard CT-guided procedure. On average, the decreases in number of passes and procedure time were more pronounced among trainees (P < 0.001).
Conclusion: The combination of a mechanical guide and smartphone can reduce the number of needle passes and the amount of time needed to reach a lesion in a phantom for both trainees and experienced radiologists.
Keywords: CT; Intervention; Needle guidance; Smartphone.
© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to International Skeletal Society (ISS).