Eliminating the human factor from stereotaxic surgeries

项目总结： 本研究项目的主要目标是为小动物开发一种新的立体定位装置。 在准确性、重复性和易用性方面优于现有设备的研究。前进 一种工具，如电极、注射吸管或通过头盖骨上的小孔注射光纤，有时 在很长的距离上，并将其精确地放置在特定的大脑区域，通常远小于一毫米 在直径上，是一个重大的实验挑战。任何时候研究人员错过了目标大脑区域 结果实验失败了，损失了大量的工作，牺牲了更多的动物， 材料被浪费，科学发现的步伐被放慢。即使在实验的情况下 如果成功，它们可能很难复制，因为许多研究小组依赖于他们最有经验的实验室 成员及其执行这些程序的“特殊接触”--从而增加了非 程序的量化，有效地降低了实验的重复性。 我们建议开发一种新的立体定位装置，它将克服许多这些缺点。我们的 该设备具有完全不同的机械设计，与传统的 和新颖的体内技术。我们建议将计算机3D视觉和机器人技术相结合，以实现自动和 软件引导对动物头骨的调整。地标是用3D视觉测量的，基于 结构照明的精确度水平是任何现有设备都无法实现的。 这些信息将指导机器人平台为实验定位动物。最后，我们建议 开发一个开放的神经导航软件平台，允许调查人员使用该平台 任何他们想要使用的小动物物种。用于神经导航的脑图谱系统可以是 从基于云的站点下载，或由调查人员通过准备一套 对一只动物样本进行核磁共振和CT扫描。 我们的设备将有助于使立体定位程序更准确，对人工输入的依赖更少，并 从而提高了实验室内实验的重复性以及实验的重复性 跨实验室的实验。

Project Summary: The main goal of this research project is to develop a new line of new stereotaxic devices for small animal research that outperforms existing devices in terms of accuracy, reproducibility, and ease of use. Advancing a tool such as an electrode, injection pipette or optical fiber through a small hole in the cranium, sometimes over long distances, and placing it precisely in a particular brain area, often much less than one millimeter in diameter, is a significant experimental challenge. Any time an investigator misses the target brain area and the experiment fails as a result, a significant amount of work is lost, additional animals get sacrificed, materials are wasted, and the pace of scientific discovery has been slowed. Even in cases when experiments succeed, they can be difficult to reproduce because many research groups rely on their most experienced lab members and their “special touch” to perform these procedures – thereby adding an element of non- quantitativeness to the procedures, effectively making the experiment less reproducible. We propose to develop a novel stereotaxic apparatus which will overcome many of these shortcomings. Our device features a radically different mechanical design which is natively compatible with both traditional and novel in-vivo techniques. We propose to combine computer 3D vision and robotics for automatic and software guided adjustments of the animal's skull. Landmarks are measured with 3D vision, based on structured illumination at a level of accuracy that has not been accomplished by any of the existing devices. This information will guide a robotic platform to position the animal for the experiment. Finally, we propose to develop an open software platform for neuronavigation that will allow investigators to use the platform with any small animal species they desire to use. Brain atlas systems for neuronavigation can either be downloaded from a cloud based site, or produced de-novo by the investigator by preparing a single set of MRI and CT scans from one sample animal. Our device will help make stereotaxic procedures more accurate and less dependent on human input and thereby increase the repeatability of experiments within a laboratory as well as the reproducibility of experiments across laboratories.