Background: If few user-friendly, precise, and non-invasive stereotactic brain biopsy devices exists, the cost of the most advanced ones can be prohibitive and the risks of a breach in sterility and altered accuracy during placement remain bothersome. Hypothesis/
Objectives: To evaluate the accuracy of a novel, affordable computed tomography (CT)-based, three-dimensional (3D) printed stereotactic brain biopsy device for dogs and cats, using dental anchors (Infineis patent). Animals: Cadavers of 4 dogs and 4 cats with varying head morphologies to assess the device's performance across different skull types and biopsy locations were imaged by CT.
Methods: Experimental study. Three target points (superficial: right frontal lobe, median: left caudate nucleus, deep: right piriform lobe) were selected per cadaver based on CT images allowing 3D printing of a headframe including three biopsy guides. Deviation between pre-established targets and actual needle placement was calculated for each location and a 95% confidence interval (CI) for mean placement error was obtained. Differences between species and depth were evaluated using a Student’s t-test and Spearman’s rank correlation respectively.
Results: Mean target point deviation was 1.24mm (range: 0.16-2.84 with a 95% CI of 1.01-1.47mm). Deviations for superficial, median, and deep target points were 1.11mm (range: 0.60-1.78), 1.24mm (range: 0.16-2.84) and 1.36mm (range: 0.71-2.07), respectively. No significant differences in accuracy between target point locations and species were observed (p=0.30 and p=0.93 respectively). Conclusions and clinical importance: This 3D printed stereotactic brain biopsy device, employing dental anchors, demonstrated a high accuracy across a range of biopsy depth and species.
