ROBOTIC ASSISTED DEEP BRAIN STIMULATION NEUROSURGERY: FIRST STEPS ON SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT

摘要

The advantages of Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) lead toan increasing number of stereotactic DBS surgeries, whichare extensive procedures that require extreme precision andsteadiness of tool handling. Robotic manipulators knownfor their consistency, movement precision and steadinesshave the potential to be remarkable tools to assist the neurosurgeonsand can refine the quality/working conditions,while improving surgery outcome. Currently, robotic systemsfor stereotactic neurosurgeries with simple/pragmaticlow budget solutions that fulfil the surgeons’ needs are notyet available. Thus, we have been asked to develop suchrobotic system. In this paper we present our first steps towardsuch endeavour. Specifically, we implemented a simulationenvironment for robotic assisted DBS neurosurgerythat allows emulating several hardware setups within theoperating room, and to test and assess their performance.The simulator is useful not only as tool for developingspecialized control applications, but also for training clinicians.First results support the viability of the sought solutionand open way to future developments.