Multi-stage Soft Robotic Assistant for Intra-operative MRI-guided Stereotactic Brain Biopsy and Neurosurgery

Professor Kwok, Ka Wai   (Principal Investigator (PI))

14

2023-07-27

598620

Multi-stage Soft Robotic Assistant for Intra-operative MRI-guided Stereotactic Brain Biopsy and Neurosurgery

Multi-stage, Soft Robotic Assistant, Intra-operative, MRI-guided Stereotactic Brain Biopsy and Neurosurgery

Mechanical, Production and Industrial Engineering

PiH/349/23

Research Talent Hub for ITF Projects (RTH-ITF)

2023

On-going

Despite the development of many MRI-guided robotic systems for neurosurgicalprocedures such as tumor biopsy and deep brain stimulation (DBS), widespread adoptionin clinics remains to be seen. No existing robotic platforms can fit within standard MRIimaging head coils while also operating during continuous imaging without degrading theimage quality. Current platforms cannot accommodate the trend towards bilateralneurosurgery, e.g. DBS, which has become the most popular approach for treatingParkinson's disease (PD). Further to this, the lack of adoption of MRI-guided roboticswhich can be attributed to the significant additional costs imposed with using MRIguidance, particularly due to expensive MR-compatible instruments and prolonged MRIoperation costs. Therefore, the proposed project aims to develop an MR-safe/conditionalsystem that integrates compact soft-robotic actuation, intra-operative MRI and real-timeMR-tracking units to improve the accuracy of needle placement for brain lesion biopsyand neurosurgery while streamlining the surgical workflow. The success of this projectwould represent a major step toward safer, more accurate and efficient diagnosis andtreatment even for complex cases with severe brain shift.