Latest Tech:Robots can reduce brain surgery time from 2hours to 2 Minutes

Robotic drills for brain surgery

Robotic drills has been projected as the future of brain surgery reducing brain operation from 2 hours to 2 minutes.
Developers believe the computer-driven gadget, which works like 'Google Maps', could perform a pivotal role in future surgical procedures.

This genius invention can make one type of complex cranial surgery 50 times faster than standard procedures, researchers say.

They claim the drill produces fast, clean and safe cuts, reducing the time the wound is open and the patient is anaesthetised. This decreases the chances of infection, human error and surgical cost.

In complex surgeries, especially cranial ones, surgeons typically use hand drills to make intricate openings, adding hours to a procedure.

 Dr William Couldwell, a neurosurgeon at the University of Utah, where the robotic drill  is being developed, hence the  need  for a device was more efficient and could  alleviate this burden 

Describing the existing procedure as slow he said  "It was like doing archaeology. We had to slowly take away the bone to avoid sensitive structures.'

'I was interested in developing a low-cost drill that could do a lot of the grunt work to reduce surgeon fatigue.'

The team developed the drill from scratch to meet the needs of the neurosurgical unit, as well as developed software that sets a safe cutting path.

How the drill will work

The patient is imaged using a CT scan to gather bone data and identify the exact location of nerves and major veins and arteries that must be avoided.

Surgeons use this information to program the cutting path of the drill within 1mm of their sensitive structures.

Dr Balaji said: 'The software lets the surgeon choose the optimum path from point A to point B, like Google Maps.

'Think of the barriers like a construction zone. You slow down to navigate it safety.'

The drill, which has yet to be tested on humans, does the heavy lifting by removing most of the bone accurately and rapidly.

The researchers applied the new drill to the translabyrinthine opening, a particularly complex jigsaw-like shape that circumnavigates the ear.

It is performed thousands of times a year to expose slow-growing, benign tumours that form around the auditory nerves.

This cut is not only difficult, the cutting path also must avoid several sensitive features, including facial nerves and the venous sinus - a large vein that drains blood from the brain and the risks of this surgery include loss of facial movement.



Not only can the gadget cut the time of the surgery, but it also has potential to slash the cost because it shaves hours from operating room time.

The research team proved the safety and speed of the drill by performing this complex cut, but they say it can be applied to many other surgical procedures.

Dr Couldwell said: 'This drill can be used for a variety of surgeries, like machining the perfect receptacle opening in the bone for a hip implant.'

The research team will now being looking at how to commercialise the drill to ensure more widely available for other surgical procedures