Needles are an integral part of many medical procedures nowadays. In prostate cancer ablation procedures, for example, surgeons insert a needle into the prostate tumor with image guidance to deliver the treatment fiber to the cancerous tissue. Needle insertion is not, however, a simple task and requires precision localization to reach the target accurately. Furthermore, minimal insertion forces are required to preserve the tissue that the needle is penetrating. In nature, some wasp and mosquito species are able to move a needle-like structure in substrates using a vibrating motion, this vibrating motion is thought to reduce the frictional force during the penetration process. In this graduation project, we look forward to developing an ultrasound-enhanced needle to minimize the effect of the friction forces acting on the needle, thus increasing the positioning accuracy and minimizing the tissue damage due to penetration.

The assignment is available from October 2021. Interested? Contact Jette Bloemberg: j.bloemberg@tudelft.nl or Mostafa Atalla: m.a.a.atalla@tudelft.nl.