Micro-Robotics for Minimally-Invasive Neurosurgery

描述(由申请人提供)： 机器人技术已经在外科手术中被广泛接受，特别是在腹腔镜手术中，现在外科医生可以通过来自腹腔镜的直接视觉反馈使用手臂进行远程操作，以在心脏、胸部和腹部解剖、缝合、捆绑和执行复杂的手术。然而，目前的机器人技术不适合神经外科显微手术，因为机器人需要很大的工作空间，而且机器人不是为神经外科医生通常需要完成的任务而设计的。这项提议旨在开发和利用新的机器人技术来应对这些令人兴奋的机会。 第一阶段将开始开发可操纵的微型机器人，这些机器人可以由神经外科医生通过一些入口点精确地引导到大脑中的位置，而不需要与开放式神经外科技术相关的大切口、骨切除和组织回缩。临床和工程团队将设计、制造和测试拟议的微型机器人概念的代表性原型。原型将被引导通过代表实际神经外科的障碍课程。测试将评估设计微型机器人的可行性，这些机器人可以进行必要的转弯，绕过障碍物，避开指定的“禁区”，并承受预期的稳定和瞬时负载。此外，由于在强度/稳定性和小型化之间存在折衷，该项目将展示在这个折衷空间中的最佳设计点如何取决于手头任务的细节。最后，第一阶段将确认微型机器人的多个自由度可以很容易地控制，总的致动和布线体积与神经外科要求的小型化相称。第一阶段的活动将限于原型开发和实验室测试，而第二阶段将转移到身体和动物测试。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Robotics has found a well accepted role in surgical procedures, particularly in laparoscopic procedures where arms can now be used with remote manipulation by a surgeon with direct visual feedback from the laparoscope to dissect, suture, tie, and perform complex procedures in the cardiac, thoracic, and abdominal spaces. Current robotic technology, however, is unsuitable for neurosurgical microsurgery, because of the large working space that is required for the robots, and the fact that the robots were not designed for the tasks that neurosurgeons normally need to do. This proposal aims to develop and utilize new robotic technologies to address these exciting opportunities. The Phase I will begin development of steerable micro-robots that could be accurately directed by the neurosurgeon to locations in the brain via a number of entry points without the large incision, removal of bone, and tissue retraction associated with open neurosurgical techniques. The clinical and engineering team will design, fabricate and test representative prototypes of the proposed micro-robotic concept. The prototypes will be steered through obstacle courses that are representative of actual neurosurgery. The testing will evaluate the feasibility of designing micro-robots that can make the necessary turns, circumvent obstacles, avoid locations designated as "off-limit," and withstand anticipated steady and transient loads. Moreover, since there is a tradeoff between strength/stability and miniaturization, the project will show how the optimum design point in this tradeoff space depends on the particulars of the task at hand. Finally, the Phase I will confirm that the many degrees of freedom of the micro-robot can be readily controlled with a total volume of actuation and wiring commensurate with the miniaturization demanded by neurosurgery. The Phase I activities will be limited to prototype development and testing in the laboratory, whereas the Phase II would move onto to cadaver and animal testing.