(UroToday.com) Today at the Engineering and Urology Society (EUS) Poster Session, Dr. Dan Stoianovici presented early clinical experience with ProBot, a newly developed robotic system designed to enable hands-free prostate biopsy using a novel ultrasound probe.
Over the years, Dr. Stoianovici and his team have developed multiple robotic systems for prostate biopsy. However, ProBot represents a major step forward in simplicity and design. In his presentation, he emphasized that this new system uses only two degrees of freedom—a major reduction compared to traditional systems. One degree of freedom allows the probe to rotate in place without pushing or distorting the prostate, while the second degree of freedom regulates the needle insertion. By adjusting the pivot point, the system can easily shift between transrectal and transperineal biopsy approaches, making ProBot the first robot capable of performing both procedures.
"This is quite evolved work—it took us years to get it here," Dr. Stoianovici explained. "But now we are taking it out of the closet and into clinical trials."
The ProBot itself is remarkably compact, weighing only 1.3 kilograms. Preclinical water tank testing demonstrated targeting errors consistently below one millimeter. Based on this performance, the team received FDA and IRB approval to initiate clinical trials. In initial human testing, two patients underwent hands-free TR prostate biopsies using the ProBot (Figure 1). All procedures were completed successfully with no complications, prostate deformation, or procedural failures. Total procedure times ranged between 15 and 20 minutes, including 3D scanning, planning, and biopsy execution.
Dr. Stoianovici highlighted that fewer degrees of freedom not only simplify the device but may also improve targeting accuracy by reducing sources of mechanical error. While clinical validation is still ongoing, early results are promising.
There were no audience questions following Dr. Stoianovici’s presentation.
Presented by: Dan Stoianovici, PhD, Brady Urological Institute, Robotics Laboratory, Johns Hopkins University
Written by: Tiffany Huang, MS3, University of California, Irvine School of Medicine, @tiffvnyhuang on X during the American Urological Association's 2025 Annual Meeting, between April 26 – 29, 2025, in Las Vegas, NV.