X-Message-Number: 6533
Date: Mon, 15 Jul 1996 14:16:33 -0400 (EDT)
From: The Hitman <>
Subject: NASA Robot May Enhance Brain Surgery (fwd)
I thought everyone might find this interesting.
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Fri, 31 May 1996 16:50:55 -0400
From: NASA HQ Public Affairs Office <>
To:
Subject: NASA Robot May Enhance Brain Surgery
Jim Cast
Headquarters, Washington, DC May 31, 1996
(Phone: 202/358-1779)
John Bluck
Ames Research Center, Mountain View, CA
(Phone: 415/604-5026)
Mike Goodkind
Stanford University Medical Center News Bureau, Stanford, CA
(Phone: 415/725-5376)
Irene Ohlendorf
Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System, Palo Alto, CA
(Phone: 415/858-3925)
RELEASE: 96-110
NASA ROBOT MAY ENHANCE BRAIN SURGERY
A simple robot that can "learn" the physical characteristics
of the brain soon may give surgeons finer control of surgical
instruments during delicate brain operations.
In a new procedure being developed at NASA's Ames Research
Center, Mountain View, CA, a robotic probe will "learn" the brain's
characteristics by using neural net software, which is the
same type of software technology that helps focus
camcorders. The probe, equipped with a tiny pressure
sensor, will enter the brain, gently locating the edges of
tumors while preventing damage to critical arteries.
"Potentially, the robot will be able to 'feel' brain structures
better than any human surgeon, making slow, very precise movements
during an operation," said principal investigator Dr. Robert W. Mah of
the NeuroEngineering Group at Ames. Brain tumors typically
have a different density than normal brain tissue. This
difference allows neurosurgeons to find the tumor's edge
through experience.
"NASA's Neurosurgical Computational Medicine Testbed is a unique
and essential element in our goal to improve the safety, accuracy and
efficiency of neurosurgery," said Dr. Russell J. Andrews of the
Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System and clinical
associate professor of neurosurgery at Stanford University.
"This collaboration is a good start toward meeting that
goal." Mah has worked with Andrews since 1994 to develop
the smart robot.
The probes used on the robot are much smaller than standard
probes, and should further reduce potential brain damage. During
standard brain surgery, the surgeon uses a magnetic
resonance image to guide placement of the probe in the
brain. The physician samples the tumor by inserting a
biopsy probe through an opening in the skull.
"A probe can be as large as 0.2 inches in diameter,"
Mah said. "As it enters the brain, there may be injury to brain tissue. If
an artery is damaged as the doctor inserts the probe, the patient could
bleed to death," Mah said.
In contrast, during the robotic neural net procedure,
the speed and maximum pressure are controlled by a "smart" computer
program that continues to learn as it gains more experience.
If it hits an artery, the probe will stop before it
penetrates. If the computer stops the probe, the surgeon
can decide what to do next.
"Besides having robotic computer control, we have
miniaturized everything. Instead of a probe that is almost 0.2
inches in diameter, all we need is a probe about one-third that
size," Mah said. "That minimizes brain damage, too." A biopsy
needle extracts a tissue sample through the probe.
Ames is developing robotic telepresence surgery to deal
with medical emergencies that may occur during long-duration human space
flights. "On a long-duration mission, there likely won't be a medical
specialist on board to deal with a specific surgical problem," Mah said.
"A surgeon on Earth could control the surgery by issuing high-level
commands, such as 'start surgery' or 'take sample' to the robot. The
computerized robot would go as far as it could within safe limits. Then
it would wait for the next command from Earth."
During early tests, scientists used tofu, a food made
from soybeans that has a consistency very similar to brain tissue, to
model tissue types. "These tests were used to teach the neural net
software what are normal brain tissues and arteries and what are not,"
Mah said.
The software learns to distinguish tumors from normal
brain tissue by remembering the pressure signatures or profiles
for each kind of tissue, and then making a model. Using
traditional computer programming to do the brain modeling
job is not practical. "It is very difficult to model the
human brain. A human computer programmer would have to
mathematically model each patient and each kind of tissue,"
Mah added.
A modified form of the brain surgery robot could be used
for other kinds of surgery. "It could be used in the kinds of surgery
that can use 'smart' sensors. Besides pressure sensors,
there are sensors that can detect temperature, acidity and the
amounts of various kinds of chemicals," he said.
In addition to the brain surgery project, the Ames
NeuroEngineering Laboratory is developing other forms of software with
potential uses such as balancing the centrifuge on the International
Space Station, balancing airborne astronomical telescopes, emergency
aircraft propulsion control and eliminating atmospheric distortion from
astronomical telescopes.
-end-
Images of the robot are available on the Internet via
the Ames Public Affairs Home Page. The URL is:
http://ccf.arc.nasa.gov/dx
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