Robust path planning for flexible needle insertion using Markov decision processes

Xiaoyu Tan, Pengqian Yu, Kah-Bin Lim, Chee-Kong Chui

Abstract: Flexible needle has the potential to accurately navigate to a treatment region in the least invasive manner. We propose a new planning method using Markov decision processes (MDPs) for flexible needle navigation that can perform robust path planning and steering under the circumstance of complex tissue–needle interactions.