Grant: Collaborative Health Research Projects (NSERC partnered)

Brachytherapy is a popular treatment for men with early prostate cancer due to its high success rate, minimal side effects, and patient convenience. It involves the insertion of needles loaded with tiny radioactive seeds into the prostate. Once the needles are fully inserted, they are pulled back to permanently leave the seeds in locations inside and around the prostate, where high doses of radiation released from them kill the cancer cells. For successful brachytherapy, the radioactive seeds should be implanted in their planned locations (targets) inside or around the prostate with high accuracy. However, current techniques only enable surgeons to place a seed to within 5 mm of an intended target, which is a relatively large inaccuracy as the average prostate is only about 50 mm in total diameter. We intend to develop a hand-held instrument for surgeons that will help them place seeds closer to their intended targets. More accurate seed placement will considerably improve the treatment of prostate cancer. Delivering radiation with pinpoint accuracy will lead to better prostate cancer control and fewer side effects (e.g., difficulty urinating or experiencing rectal discomfort) for patients. Our research results can also allow for using seed implantation for treatment of prostate cancer situations not possible with the current imprecise technique; one example is treating only a part of the prostate (as opposed to the current practice of placing seeds throughout the whole prostate) for very early prostate cancers. Our research will create an intelligent needle adjustment assistant consisting of a hand-held device for the surgeon and an associated computer program that together will ensure seeds reach their intended targets in an accurate, repeatable and controlled manner as the surgeon manually inserts a needle. The assistant does so by automatically correcting the needle tip's bevel location and heading as it is inserted into the prostate by the surgeon.