We present a method for the three-dimensional (3D) steering of a flexible needle under 3D ultrasound guidance. The proposed solution is based on a duty-cycling visual servoing strategy we designed in a previous work, and on a new needle tracking algorithm for 3D ultrasound. The flexible needle modeled as a polynomial curve is tracked during automatic insertion using particle filtering. This new tracking algorithm enables real-time closed-loop needle control with 3D ultrasound feedback. Experimental results of a targeting task demonstrate the robustness of the proposed tracking algorithm and the feasibility of 3D ultrasound-guided needle steering. © 2015 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, in any current or future media, including reprinting/republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes, creating new collective works, for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted component of this work in other works.     «

We present a method for the three-dimensional (3D) steering of a flexible needle under 3D ultrasound guidance. The proposed solution is based on a duty-cycling visual servoing strategy we designed in a previous work, and on a new needle tracking algorithm for 3D ultrasound. The flexible needle modeled as a polynomial curve is tracked during automatic insertion using particle filtering. This new tracking algorithm enables real-time closed-loop needle control with 3D ultrasound feedback. Ex...     »