Clinical application of image-navigation-assisted positioning and puncturing system in minimally-invasive interventional therapy

Image-navigation-assisted positioning and puncturing system is a newly-developed treatment technology in recent years, which carries broad application prospects. It combines image and navigation technology together. Guided by the dynamic real-time imaging the operator can precisely manipulate the surgical instruments to operate on the target lesion, in this way the minimally-invasive interventional therapy can be greatly optimized. The image-guided methods mainly include ultrasound, CT, MR, etc. Based on the principles of different positioning methods, the navigation and positioning technology can be classified into mechanical positioning, optical positioning and electromagnetic positioning. Each image guidance and navigation technology has its own advantages and disadvantages. At present, image-navigation-assisted positioning and puncturing system has already been widely used in various minimally-invasive interventional therapies, such as tumor biopsy, local ablation therapy, radioactive seed implantation, etc., and satisfactory clinical results have been achieved although in clinical practice they still have some shortcomings. In this paper, the application of this technique in minimally-invasive interventional therapy is briefly reviewed. (authors)