End-user evaluation of software-generated intervention planning environment for transrectal magnetic resonance-guided prostate biopsies.

BACKGROUND

This study presents user evaluation studies to assess the effect of information rendered by an interventional planning software on the operator's ability to plan transrectal magnetic resonance (MR)-guided prostate biopsies using actuated robotic manipulators.

METHODS

An intervention planning software was developed based on the clinical workflow followed for MR-guided transrectal prostate biopsies. The software was designed to interface with a generic virtual manipulator and simulate an intervention environment using 2D and 3D scenes. User studies were conducted with urologists using the developed software to plan virtual biopsies.

RESULTS

User studies demonstrated that urologists with prior experience in using 3D software completed the planning less time. 3D scenes were required to control all degrees-of-freedom of the manipulator, while 2D scenes were sufficient for planar motion of the manipulator.

CONCLUSIONS

The study provides insights on using 2D versus 3D environment from a urologist's perspective for different operational modes of MR-guided prostate biopsy systems.