Design for accessible healthcare

PIGA is designed to assist radiologists access very small tumors in a minimally invasive mode that would help diagnose diseases like cancer of the lung and abdomen even when it is in its early stages

The product is a robotic assistant for CT Guided interventions. It is a 5 axes medical device to position the needle accurately into the human body (soft tissue) and to facilitate various needle based clinical procedures in conjunction with CT (Computerized Tomography)

The product principally takes input from the scan information of CT scan and orients it’s axis to position the needle holder exactly above the lesion/ tissue to be targeted in the exact angle. The doctor then simply inserts the injection and takes the sample affected tissue out. The entry position is decided by the doctor on the CT scan machine. This location is directly replicated in reality by PIGA.

Until now doctors have been facing a serious problem in locating the tissue simply by looking at the CT scan image and getting reference distance, angle and depth of insertion which were manually reproduced on the human body by a pen and a scale.

This product makes the whole process very simple and empowers doctors with even basic skills to take tissue samples without afflicting multiple punctures in the body and reducing exposure to radiation. In normal circumstances if the tissue size is small doctors do not risk undertaking the operation, as they are not sure if they would rupture any blood vessel or puncture the lung, which can be fatal. Hence there are very few skilled doctors who can undertake this operation and hence charge high fees.

This product changes all that and makes diagnosis possible for a large number of doctors thus effecting early life saving diagnosis for a large population.