Robot for minimally invasive neurosurgery

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10548670-B2
Application number	US-201715674639-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 11, 2017
Priority date	Jan 14, 2011
Publication date	Feb 4, 2020
Grant date	Feb 4, 2020

Abstract

A robotic device for performing intracranial procedures, comprising a baseplate for mounting on the subject's skull and a rotatable base element rotating on the baseplate. The rotatable base element has a central opening through which a cannulated needle can protrude such that it can rotate around an axis perpendicular to the baseplate. This cannulated needle is robotically controlled to provide motion into and out of the subject's skull. A flexible needle is disposed coaxially within the cannulated needle, and it is controlled to move into and out of a non-axial aperture in the distal part of the cannulated needle. Coordinated control of the insertion motion of the cannulated and flexible needles, and rotation of the combined cannulated/flexible needle assembly enables access to be obtained to a volume of a region of the brain having lateral dimensions substantially larger than the width of the cannulated needle.

First claim

We claim:

1. A robotic device for performing an intracranial procedure at a target region of a subject's brain, comprising: a baseplate adapted for mounting on a skull of a subject; a rotatable element disposed on said baseplate, and having an opening in its central region; a cannula having an axis mounted on said rotatable element coaxially with said opening, and which rotates with rotation of said rotatable element, said cannula being robotically controlled to provide motion into and out of the skull of said subject, and having in its distal region, a curved section leading to a non-axial aperture disposed essentially at right angles to said cannula axis; and a chain of magnetized beads disposed in said cannula, said chain of magnetized beads being controlled to provide motion around said curved section and out of said non-axial aperture, and having a structure in which each magnetized bead is adapted to partially separate from its neighboring magnetized beads when negotiating said curved section, and to reattach itself to its neighboring magnetized beads after exiting said non-axial aperture, the magnetization of said chain of magnetized beads being sufficiently high to enable said chain of magnetized beads to continue said motion out of said non-axial aperture to said target region without losing its mechanical properties; wherein coordinated control of the motion of said cannula and said chain of magnetized beads and rotation of said rotatable element enables access to be obtained by said chain of magnetized beads to said target region of the brain; and wherein an outside diameter of said chain of magnetized beads is no larger than 4 mm, and a radius of curvature of said curved section is no more than 25% larger than an external diameter of said cannula.

2. The robotic device according to claim 1 , wherein said chain of magnetized beads are magnetized in a direction such that they are attracted to each other to form a self-centering stack.

3. The robotic device according to claim 1 , wherein said chain of magnetized beads comprises a cutting tool, such that resection of a brain tumor can be performed such that any collateral trauma to those parts of the brain not being treated is approximately confined to a region having a width of said cannula.

4. The robotic device according to claim 1 , wherein said chain of magnetized beads is adapted to be connected to an energy delivery system, such that ablation or optical or electro-treatment of a brain tumor can be performed such that collateral trauma to those parts of the brain not being treated is approximately confined to a region having a width of a first cannulated needle.

5. The robotic device according to claim 4 , wherein said chain of magnetized beads comprises an optical fiber for delivery of energy via said energy delivery system.

6. The robotic device according to claim 1 , wherein said chain of magnetized beads comprises a biopsy tool, such that biopsy samples may be obtained from regions of the brain at different positions laterally displaced from each other by distances substantially larger than a width of a first cannulated needle, such that collateral trauma to those parts of the brain not being accessed is approximately confined to a region having the width of said first cannulated needle.

7. The robotic device according to claim 1 , wherein said chain of magnetized beads comprises a drug delivery passage.

8. The robotic device according to claim 1 , wherein said chain of magnetized beads comprises a sensing device adapted to differentiate between healthy and non-healthy tissue.

9. The robotic device according to claim 1 , further comprising a set of preoperatively inserted markers for relating a position of said robotic device to the skull of the subject, such that a co-ordinate system of said robotic device can be registered to a preoperative image of the skull of said subject.

10. The robotic device according to claim 1 , further comprising at least one position sensor disposed either in a distal region of said chain of magnetized beads, such that a real time position of a tip of said chain of magnetized beads can be monitored intraoperatively, or in the distal region of said cannula, such that the real time position of the tip of said cannula can be monitored intraoperatively.

11. The robotic device according to claim 1 , wherein said structure of said chain of magnetized beads is such that its flexibility is reduced on negotiating said curved section, and its mechanical properties are regained after deployment from said non-axial aperture.

Assignees

• Technion Res & Dev Foundation

Inventors

• Zarrouk David
• Shoham Moshe
• Zaaroor Menashe
• Ziso Hadas

Classifications

• A61B2034/2059

  Mechanical position encoders · CPC title

• A61B90/39

  Markers, e.g. radio-opaque or breast lesions markers · CPC title

• A61B90/11

  with guides for needles or instruments, e.g. arcuate slides or ball joints · CPC title

• A61B10/0233

  Pointed or sharp biopsy instruments · CPC title

• A61B34/10 Primary

  Computer-aided planning, simulation or modelling of surgical operations · CPC title