Robots help brain surgery

Canadian scientists and engineers have developed a tactile robot that allows doctors to perform surgical procedures in the human brain.

The robot, called neuroArm , is expected to be used in its first operation this summer at the University of Calgary's Foothills Hospital. It allows brain surgeons to perform their own risky work in patients with a MRI, providing a clear 3-D image of both nerves. smallest.

For $ 27 million, neuroArm is a joint product between Canadian scientists and the CanadArm robotic arm manufacturing company for NASA shuttles.

"It will help with surgery for brain tumors that are not good enough for human doctors to perform," says neurosurgeon Garnette Sutherland of the University of Calgary, who led the project.

NeuroArm is controlled from a cockpit-like room where physicians can feel the pressure and structure of the brain, preventing blood vessels and other tissues from being squeezed - It is extremely difficult in brain surgery.

"Our goal is to make the surgeries easier, and the surgeries can not become possible," says engineer Alex Greer.

T.VY