Research Stereotaxic Instrument w/ Computer Enhanced Accuracy

描述（由申请人提供）：脑部疾病通常是长期的和致残的，他们的护理是昂贵的。2000年编写的一份报告显示，10种最常见的脑部疾病每年新增病例110万例。1 600多万人正在接受这些疾病的治疗（www.caregiver.org）。神经科学学会拥有超过36,000名会员，旨在通过基础研究，预防和治疗脑部疾病，促进对健康和患病大脑的了解。MyNeuroLab.com的目标是为这些神经科学研究人员提供他们工作所需的尖端专业工具和仪器。公司的产品包括立体定向仪器。这些仪器被用来在实验动物大脑的特定点定位探针。（类似的仪器也用于人类神经外科。）使用这些仪器时，准确性至关重要。然而，由于生物变异和立体定向仪器安装和对准的缺陷，探针在很大比例的情况下不能进入目标结构。这个问题是在完成其他昂贵的组织学检查后才发现的。立体定位精度的提高将减少研究动物的数量，节省时间，并降低神经科学研究的总体成本。MyNeuroLab.com开发了一种正在申请专利的立体定向仪器，它有可能大大提高立体定向精度。通过五轴编码器输入到计算机，该仪器提高了分辨率并计算进入角度，大大加快了探头放置过程。提出的研究旨在开发计算机算法，以进一步提高仪器的准确性。第一个目标是通过调整目标坐标来纠正对齐误差，以纠正颅骨地标Bregma和Lambda的垂直位置偏差。其次，创建一个软件，实现一个在20世纪80年代经过测试但后来很少使用的想法，即使用两个地标来计算动物的目标坐标。虽然这种方法比单独使用任何一种地标都更准确，但它并没有得到普遍使用，也许是因为每次手术所需的复杂计算都很耗时，而且会引起数学误差的担忧。一旦坐标存储在计算机中，这些风险就被消除了。第二阶段的建议将开发使用动物的数码照片或核磁共振成像板作为地图集的选择。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Diseases of the brain are typically long term and disabling, and their care is expensive. A report compiled in 2000 shows 1.1 million new cases annually of the 10 most common brain diseases. More than 16 million persons receive ongoing care for these diseases (www.caregiver.org). With over 36,000 members, the Society for Neuroscience seeks to advance knowledge of the healthy and diseased brain through basic research, toward the prevention and treatment of brain disease. MyNeuroLab.com's objective is to support these neuroscience researchers with the cutting-edge, specialized tools and instruments they need to do their work. Among the company's products are stereotaxic instruments. These instruments are utilized to position probes at specific points in the brains of research animals. (Similar instruments are also used in human neurosurgery.) When using these instruments, accuracy is critical. Because of biological variations and imperfections in the installment and alignment in the stereotaxic instrument, however, probes do not enter the target structure in a significant percentage of cases. This problem is not discovered until histology, after other - often costly - tests have been completed. Improved stereotaxic accuracy would decrease the number of research animals needed, save time, and reduce the overall cost of neuroscience research. MyNeuroLab.com has developed a patent-pending stereotaxic instrument that has the potential to greatly improve stereotaxic accuracy. With five axes of encoder input to a computer, this instrument improves resolution and computes entry angles, greatly speeding the probe placement process. The proposed research aims to develop computer algorithms to further improve the instrument's accuracy. The first objective is to correct alignment errors by adjusting target coordinates for deviations in the vertical position of the skull landmarks, Bregma and Lambda. Second, create software that implements an idea tested in the 1980s, but little-used since, that uses both landmarks to figure an animal's target coordinates. While more accurate than using either landmark alone, this approach has not come into common use, perhaps because the complex calculations required for each surgery are time-consuming and raise the specter of mathematical error. Once the coordinates are stored in a computer, these risks are eliminated. A Phase II proposal will develop the option to use digital photos or MRI plates from the animal as the atlas.