A Function-integrated Neurosurgical Robot for Distributed Implantation of Microelectrodes

Stereotaxic surgeries for distributed implantation of microelectrodes into rat brains are vital for establishing brain-computer interfaces in neuroscience research. Minimally invasive craniotomy and microelectrode implantation are two related major surgical tasks requiring high accuracy and safety. In the literature, existing robotic systems are generally developed for a separate surgical task. However, the accuracy of drilling craniotomy performed first can directly affect the implantation outcomes later. Thus, we develop a function-integrated neurosurgical robot capable of completing multiple cranial drillings and distributed implantation of microelectrodes. A drilling module with bio-impedance feedback and an implantation module with adaptive grippers are integrated with a five-axis motion platform. Surgical planning methods based on Bezier curves and potential informed Bi-RRT, as well as kinematic relationships of the robotic system, are developed to guide the robot with obstacle avoidance in the surgical scene. The surgical path simulation is conducted to validate the effectiveness of the planning method. The experiments involving two surgical tasks and a repeated test at different implantation depths jointly demonstrate that this prototypical robot can perform the surgery with high accuracy and safety, indicating great potential in reducing the workload of surgeons and minimizing surgical failure rates.