BME.10 – Addressing Patient Discomfort During Prostate Biopsy

Stabilizing patients during transrectal ultrasound (TRUS) prostate biopsies is an issue that urologists and supporting nurses struggle to achieve during the procedure due to the lack of equipment specialized in stabilizing, the mobility limitations, and discomfort of the patients. A prostate biopsy is a procedure in which a typically geriatric, male patient is positioned in the left lateral decubitus (LLD) while a urologist takes core prostate samples using an ultrasound probe and needle. On the market, there are no LLD positioners for patients undergoing prostate biopsy that allow for clear range of vision and access to the prostate. There are few current solutions for a TRUS prostate biopsy procedure such as bean bag positioners and pregnancy pillows which do not take into account the LLD position during the conditions of a prostate biopsy. This device aims to reduce positioning discomfort for the patient, be reusable, durable, and assist in improving the accuracy of the procedure. This is done through designing a device with a mattress base, back support, and thigh support; the entire device is transportable and can be secured atop the typical procedure chair. The thigh support carriage utilizes pegs that can be moved to best fit specific patient measurements/height along a rail that grants the device adjustability and inclusivity; it works to maintain a hip angle that is more acute than 95° for different sized patients. The device verification protocol required subjects to utilize the device in LLD positioning to mirror the TRUS procedure, placing markers to be captured and processed through MATLAB for angle calculations, and performing a left sided T-test to ensure a p-value of 0.05 in order to have a 95% confidence level that subjects’ hip angles reach below 95°. While our device is able to keep subjects in the LLD position, the resulting device is not sufficient for medical grade use in the procedure room because of the wooden base. Our device will be used to help reduce patient discomfort during a TRUS prostate biopsy. The device’s patient impact will decrease overall discomfort during prostate biopsy and increase validity of prostate cancer detection. Further, this device is one of the first LLD body positioners for TRUS procedures; this innovation can open the doors to creating more surgical stabilizers for other specific positions with patient comfort in mind.