Image-guided Surgical Robot Improves Effectiveness and Safety of Brain Surgery

The device should modernize neurosurgery and other areas of operative medicine by freeing them from the constraints of the human hand.

The world's first magnetic resonance imaging- (MRI)-compatible surgical robot, called the neuroArm, is the creation of neurosurgeon Dr. Garnette Sutherland and his team from the University of Calgary (U of C; Canada)/Calgary Health Region. Dr. Sutherland has spent the last six years leading a team of Canadian scientists, in cooperation with MacDonald, Dettwiler, and Associates, Ltd. (MDA; Richmond, British Columbia), to design a machine "that represents a milestone in medical technology.”

"Many of our microsurgical techniques evolved in the 1960s, and have pushed surgeons to the limits of their precision, accuracy, dexterity, and stamina,” remarked Dr. Sutherland, professor of neurosurgery, University of Calgary Faculty of Medicine and the Calgary Health Region. "neuroArm dramatically enhances the spatial resolution at which surgeons operate, and shifts surgery from the organ towards the cell level.”

Devised to be controlled by a surgeon from a computer workstation, neuroArm operates in conjunction with real-time MR imaging, providing surgeons exceptional detail and control; enabling them to manipulate tools at a microscopic scale. Advanced surgical assessment of neuroArm is currently underway, followed by the first patient, anticipated for this summer.

NeuroArm, one of the most sophisticated robotic systems ever developed, was designed and built in collaboration with MDA, known for creating Canadarm and Canadarm2. Bringing neuroArm to life required a unique partnership between medicine, engineering, physics, and education; some of Calgary's most visionary philanthropists; the high-tech sector, and numerous government agencies and research funding organizations.

Dr. Sutherland's team is developing specialized training programs in partnership with the Calgary Health Region, and U of C's faculties of medicine and education to train surgeons in the use of neuroArm. Many other surgical disciplines have and continue to participate in applying neuroArm to various types of surgical procedures.


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