Date: Fri, 31 May 1996 16:50:54 -0400
From: [log in to unmask] (NASA HQ Public Affairs Office)
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: NASA Robot May Enhance Brain Surgery
Sender: [log in to unmask]
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.
"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.
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. "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.
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.
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