Canadian robotic science recently got front-page billing when astronauts attached Dextre, a two-armed remote manipulator developed by MD Robotics of Brampton, Ontario, to the International Space Station. Dextre’s three-metre-long arms are powerful indeed, but sometimes, the very small is as impressive as the very large, and no easier to develop.
That’s the case with neuroArm. Like Dextre, this device is capable of fine manipulation, but for brain surgery, not rocket science. And MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associated Ltd. (MDA Corporation), the Burlington, Ontario, parent company of MD Robotics, was key to the project.
NeuroArm is the first surgical robot to be fully compatible with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) equipment, thereby allowing greater accuracy. Surgeons can target areas that are clearly identified in mobile MRI units intended for use during surgery, notably the IMRIS unit. You can read more about IMRIS in the winter 2008 edition of Medical Technology Watch Canada (http://medtechwatch.ca/6-1_2008/article/main_story_e.html).
The robot’s arm is also more nimble than any human surgeons, so operations take less time, and can be carried out with low risk in cases that would previously have been considered difficult or impossible. It will also reduce the need for follow-up surgeries, and the time it will take to perform surgery. It will also allow surgeons to continue practising longer, since neuroArm can adjust to the hand tremors that normally come with age. In these days of spiralling health costs, doctor shortages, and longer wait lists, that’s great news.
NeuroArm got its start when Calgary-based neurosurgeon Dr. Garnette Sutherland, who specializes in difficult but life-saving brain-aneurysm operations, teamed up with MDA robotics engineer Perry Newhook. Also instrumental was the National Research Council’s Dr. Boguslaw Tomanek, who designed the radiofrequency coil that allows the MRI to create images of the body.
Additional difficulties associated with robot’s hardware included the application of MRI-compatible components. The team was limited to using materials other than ferrous metals, as these would interfere with the magnetic field of the MRI machine. The robot is therefore mostly made of titanium, ceramics, and complex plastics. Other elements, particularly the software, also required ingenuity. Furthermore, the robot is “equipped” with the sense of touch, so that surgeons can “feel” the patient exactly the same they would during the regular surgery.
The team did early studies of the robot on rats and on human corpses, operating on the kidney, spleen, and thymus, among others. After two years of waiting, the neuroArm team got ethical clearance from the University of Calgary to use the robot in February 2008. They expect to receive Canadian and US regulatory approval for their device shortly, but in the meantime are using it clinically under certain conditions.
Besides performing surgery, Dr. Sutherland teaches in the Clinical Neurosciences unit of the University of Calgary’s medical school. He is also affiliated with the Hotchkiss Brain Institute, which was profiled in the Winter 2008 issue of Medical technology Watch Canada (http://medtechwatch.ca/6-1_2008/article/institute_profile_1_e.html).
Orbit has been the inspiration for more than one high-tech medical device; the Mechanical Response Tissue Analyzer, profiled in the Spring 2008 issue of Medical Technology Watch Canada, had its roots in the US’s National Aeronautics and Space Administration. You can read about NASA’s contribution to medical research here: http://www.nasa.gov/externalflash/MedicalBenefits/main.html.
Photo courtesy of Jason Stang, University of Calgary
For more information on neuroArm or IBD-West, please visit the University of Calgary’s neuroArm web page (English only):
http://wcm2.ucalgary.ca/news/april2007/neuroarm
Or, contact Dr Sutherland here:
Dr. Garnette Sutherland
Foothills Hospital
1403 - 29 Street N.W.
Calgary, AB T2N 2T9
(403) 944-4403
garnette@ucalgary.ca
