Azerbaijan National Academy of Science

Scientists are developing a robotic system for more accurate brain surgery, using a bendable robotic needle inspired by a wood-boring wasp.

During neurosurgery, surgeons currently deliver medicine and drain fluid by inserting thin, rigid and hollow needles called cannulas into the brain. The rigid structure of the cannula means that it has to be inserted in a straight path and cannot adapt to the changing nature of soft, deforming brain tissue, which could lead to inaccurate placement of the cannula and increase risks for patients.

A team at Imperial College London have developed a prototype robotic needle, inspired by a wood-boring wasp, which is flexible enough to curve, enabling it to get to hard-to-reach places deep in tissue. Now, the team have received an €8.3 million grant from the European Union to lead a four-year project to develop a suite of robotic tools that will use the needle for drug delivery in neurosurgery.

The robotic needle (above) is bendable, enabling it to get to hard-to-reach places deep in tissue.

This new Europe-wide project, called EDEN2020, will see a team of academics and clinicians working alongside industry to develop a pre-commercial system. They hope to be able to begin clinical trials at the end of 2020.

The robotic system is initially being designed to deliver medications to tumours in the brain that do not currently respond well to conventional treatments. However, the researchers believe that their system could also be applied to a range of medical procedures including: brachytherapy, where radioactive ‘seeds’ can be delivered via the needle to cancerous tumours; laser ablation, where an optical fibre is used to direct a laser to burn away cancerous tissue; and deep brain stimulation, where the needle could contain an electrode for treating certain tremor related disorders such as Parkinson’s disease. The robotic needle could also be used to analyse the body at the molecular level, using Raman spectroscopy, to detect cancerous and diseased tissue.

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