Surgical neuronavigation system for accurate localization of neural targets for stimulation and recording

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We are requesting an image guided neuronavigation system designed for real time visualization of cortical and subcortical areas in non-human primates. The equipment will be housed in the McIntyre Medical Building in the department of Physiology at McGill University and be shared by four labs directed by the applicants. It will also benefit other labs requiring accurate targeting of neural structures. The equipment uses markers to align a subject's head to preloaded MRI images. During experiments or surgeries, tools handled by surgeons can then be registered with the images and displayed on a screen relative to images of the brain. This tool can then be used to insert devices into the brain. A camera mounted on the navigation system can then display the position of the tool in the brain. This system greatly increases the accuracy of targets in the brain, a feature that has become critical for our work. The applicants conduct neuroscience research aimed to increased our understand of the brain. In addition, the applicants have identified a common interest to develop neural prosthetic devices. We also have ongoing engineering projects aimed at constructing multimodal silicon probes that can record eletrical and chemical signals. A critical variable that must be controlled in many of our experiments Iis the location of the recording or stimulating electrodes in the brain. The equipment requested would allow us to visualize the tips of the probes as they move in the brain towards the target. Grey matter in the brain occupies an area less than 2 mm wide. By implanting these probes without visualizing their descent, the chance of ending up in white matter is high resulting in failed experiment not because the probes fail. This approach will also be used to investigate the underlying cellular mechanism by which the required computations occur.