Mechanical Design and Evaluation of a Selectively-actuated MRI-compatible Continuum Neurosurgical Robot

The combination of a dexterous continuum robot and magnetic resonance imaging can potentially improve surgical precision and minimize brain manipulation in a minimally invasive neurosurgical procedure. In this work, a seven degree-of-freedom (DoF) continuum neurosurgical robot was developed. The main innovation lies in the design of a safe and robust switching mechanism and gear-based quick-connect mechanism that, respectively, allow selective actuation of the 6-DoF end effector using only three motors and highly efficient end effector exchange. Its performance has been validated in experiments involving multi-segment dexterous motion. We also evaluated the robotic system on a human cadaver head in a clinical 3-Tesla MRI. The entire workflow of robotic system set-up was implemented, confirming its clinical feasibility. The signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) drop was consistently less than 6% throughout various stages of end effector motion.