Clinical Application Progress And Precision Medical Practice

Clinical Application Progress and Precision Medical Practice
The role of puncture needles in clinical medicine is undergoing a profound transformation, evolving from traditional diagnostic sampling tools to indispensable core operation carriers for achieving precision medicine. Clinical practice evidence in 2025 indicates that puncture techniques, through the cross-integration and innovative application of multidisciplinary knowledge, have significantly enhanced the accuracy of early disease diagnosis and the safety of minimally invasive treatments in multiple fields.
In the field of precise diagnosis of prostate cancer, the research conducted by the urology team of Peking University First Hospital holds a milestone significance. Through a rigorously designed randomized controlled clinical trial, the team confirmed that for patients with suspected prostate cancer with a single unilateral suspicious lesion on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), implementing "targeted puncture" while optimizing the conventional 12-needle systematic puncture protocol to 6 needles did not reduce diagnostic efficacy. This study included 506 eligible patients and compared the new "targeted puncture combined with 6-needle systematic puncture" protocol with the traditional "targeted puncture combined with 12-needle systematic puncture" protocol. The results showed that the rates of detecting clinically significant prostate cancer were almost identical for both protocols (54.3% and 54.8%, respectively). More importantly, the optimized protocol not only shortened the operation time, reduced patient pain and discomfort, but also decreased the risk of postoperative complications and overall examination costs.
In the traditionally high-risk field of spleen lesion diagnosis, the new puncture biopsy needle with integrated radiofrequency ablation function developed by the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine has achieved breakthrough progress. Due to the rich blood supply and fragile texture of the spleen, patients face a relatively high risk of bleeding after traditional puncture biopsy (with reported bleeding rates reaching 2% to 5% or even higher). The innovation of the new biopsy needle lies in its ability to immediately perform effective thermal coagulation and sealing of the puncture path (needle tract) after obtaining tissue samples, thereby significantly reducing the potential risks of postoperative bleeding and tumor cell needle tract implantation metastasis. Animal model experiments have preliminarily confirmed that this technology is feasible, safe, and can effectively reduce bleeding-related complications.
In the field of cardiovascular intervention, the new radiofrequency ablation transseptal puncture system presented by the arrhythmia center team of the First Affiliated Hospital of Ningbo University at the 2025 European Society of Cardiology Congress (ESC 2025) represents a significant advancement in cardiac intervention technology. Transseptal puncture is a key step in left atrial-related interventional treatments, but traditional mechanical puncture methods have limitations such as technical complexity and high learning difficulty. The new system integrates the puncture needle, guide wire, and radiofrequency energy generator into a single design, greatly enhancing the visibility of the sheath, puncture needle, and guide wire in real-time intracardiac ultrasound imaging. This improvement ensures a high puncture success rate while significantly reducing the overall puncture operation time and does not increase the risk of serious adverse events or device-related complications.
In orthopedics, the application of hollow core puncture technology in percutaneous pedicle puncture provides a safer solution for patients with osteoporosis or bone destruction. Research from the Guangzhou Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine shows that when the puncture needle tip slips in the area of bone destruction during the application of this technology, the internal needle core can be first withdrawn, and the cylindrical end of the external cannula can be used to form a stable contact with the bone surface. After confirming the correct puncture direction under X-ray fluoroscopy, the needle core can be reinserted to complete the final puncture. This strategy effectively reduces the repeated attempts in difficult cases of percutaneous pedicle puncture, thereby lowering the associated iatrogenic risks.
In the field of tumor interventional diagnosis and treatment, the integration of puncture needles with advanced imaging technologies has reached a new height. The team from Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center performed a biopsy on a tiny pulmonary ground-glass nodule using a percutaneous puncture robot. Through precise preoperative planning based on three-dimensional images, they selected a region with sparse blood vessel distribution as the entry point and adopted a needle insertion strategy parallel to the adjacent blood vessels. Combined with cryobiopsy technology, they successfully obtained an adequate amount of ideal specimens. Facing an extremely small lesion of only 11×9 millimeters and closely adhering to the pleura, the team innovatively adopted a "taking the long way around" approach with a large angle and long-distance needle insertion strategy, thus avoiding repeated punctures of the pleura to reach the lesion. Coupled with the precise control of the puncture angle and respiratory phase by the puncture robot, they ultimately successfully obtained high-quality solid tissue strips.

The common core feature of these clinical advancements is that they always prioritize the safety and benefit of the patient. Under the premise of ensuring the achievement of the predetermined diagnostic and therapeutic effects, they minimize surgical trauma, reduce operational risks, and improve diagnostic and therapeutic efficiency. Modern puncture needles are no longer merely simple tools for obtaining biological tissue samples but have developed into key instruments for achieving precise positioning, diagnosis, and minimally invasive treatment. They are important carriers for implementing the concept of precision medicine.