SURGICAL ROBOT OUT OF THIS WORLD
By Colleen Seto
Imagine an operation where the surgeon doesn’t
even touch you, yet is able to perform with unmatched accuracy
and precision.
That will soon be possible with Project NeuroArm, a magnetic
resonance (MR) compatible image-guided robot designed for
microsurgery that’s being developed by the University of Calgary at
the Seaman Family MR Research Centre with MDA, the Canadian
company world-renowned for building the Canadarm used on the
space shuttle.
“The robot is the only one in the world
with such capabilities,” says
the Faculty of Medicine’s Dr. Garnette Sutherland,
project leader for NeuroArm.
The NeuroArm robot will expedite patient care.
For example, during an MRI for suspected cancer, the robotic
arm would
biopsy the suspected lesion.
Such an immediate biopsy eliminates the need for multiple
referrals, reducing diagnosis time. And the accuracy
of the biopsy would
be enhanced by near real-time MR imaging.
As an ambidextrous robot, NeuroArm is capable
of performing the most technically challenging surgical procedures.
The
robot has two manipulators that mimic human hands, which
can be interchanged
with microsurgical tools.
A surgeon guides the robot using hand controllers
at a workstation. The workstation recreates the sight, sound
and sensation
of surgery. Simulation software allows the surgeon
to
determine
the optimal incision site, plan a path that avoids
critical structures, and permits risk-free rehearsal of rare
or
complex procedures.
A special feature of NeuroArm is its sense
of touch, referred to as haptics. “To optimize surgical dissection, surgeons
integrate sight, sound and touch from prior experience,” explains
Sutherland. “When I operate on the brain, I know how
soft it is and so I manipulate the tissue based on that knowledge.
With NeuroArm, we will be able to quantify this knowledge,
[and this will have] a considerable impact on education.”
While medical robotics is gaining international
interest, “we
have a unique advantage,” says Sutherland. “We
are collaborating with an established and successful robotics
company, and we have tremendous support from the Calgary community.
Together, we are transferring technologies developed for space
into the operating room.”
The NeuroArm is set for installation in late
2006.
Reprinted
courtesy of the Canada Foundation for Innovation, www.InnovationCanada.ca
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