Minimally Invasive Neurosurgical Robot for MRI-Guided Intratumoral Therapeutic Delivery

Area of Science:

• Neurosurgery
• Robotics
• Biomedical Engineering

Background:

• Immunotherapy faces challenges in brain tumor treatment due to poor drug trafficking with systemic infusions, especially in large tumors.
• Effective delivery of therapeutic agents directly within the tumor volume is crucial for improving treatment efficacy.

Purpose of the Study:

• To design, model, and assess the feasibility of a magnetic resonance (MR)-conditional steerable neurosurgical robot for minimally invasive intratumoral delivery of therapeutic agents.
• To overcome the limitations of systemic drug delivery in brain tumors by enabling targeted delivery throughout the entire tumor volume.

Main Methods:

• Development of a robotic system with a steerable inner tube for 3D navigation and a non-magnetic actuation system.
• Integration of a custom injection mechanism for precise delivery of therapeutic agents.
• Control experiments for curvature and tip tracking accuracy, phantom studies for tumor coverage, and MRI-guided manipulation studies.

Main Results:

• High accuracy in robot control with a curvature control error of 2.6 ± 1.8% and a relative tip tracking error of 4.2 ± 3.9%.
• Significantly improved tumor coverage ratio (73% vs. 29%) compared to a straight needle in phantom studies.
• Acceptable signal-to-noise ratio decrease (up to 1.41%) during MRI-guided manipulation.

Conclusions:

• The developed MR-conditional steerable neurosurgical robot is feasible for accurate, MRI-guided therapeutic delivery within brain tumors.
• This robotic approach has the potential to enhance drug trafficking and treatment efficiency for brain tumors.