STING: a soft-tissue intervention and neurosurgical guide to access deep brain lesions through curved trajectories

Abstract

Current trends in surgical intervention favour a minimally invasive approach, in which complex procedures are performed through very small incisions. Specifically, in neurosurgery there is a need for minimally invasive keyhole access, which conflicts with the lack of manoeuvrability of conventional rigid instruments. In an attempt to address this shortcoming, the current state of progress is reported on a soft-tissue intervention and neurosurgical guide (STING) to access deep brain lesions through curved trajectories. The underlying mechanism of motion, based on the reciprocal movement of interlocked probe segments, is biologically inspired and was designed around the unique features of the ovipositor of certain parasitic wasps. Work to date has focused on probe development, low- and high-level control, and trajectory planning. These aspects are described, together with results on each aspect of the work, including biomimetic microtexturing of the probe surface. Progress is very encouraging and demonstrates that forward motion into soft tissue through a reciprocating mechanism is indeed viable and can be achieved through a suitable combination of microtexturing and microfabrication techniques.

Wasp-Inspired Needle Insertion with Low Net Push Force

“…For example, Oldfield et al [18] described a 6-mm diameter four-part needle prototype with reciprocally moving segments. Tissue transversal with no net axial force by means of microstructures on the needle surface has been reported in [6], [16], [19]. Similarly, inspired by insertion methods observed in mosquito proboscis, Aoyagi et al [20] indicated that substrate penetration with a microneedle comprising serrated stylets is possible without applying a net push force (see also [21] for a description of buckling prevention in mosquitos and wasps).…”

“…Several flexible steerable needles have been developed in an effort to overcome the path planning limitations encountered with rigid straight needles (e.g., [2], [4][5][6][7][8][9]). Some of these newly developed needles rely on concentric axial insertion of multiple pre-bent needle parts, whereas others rely on reaction forces from the tissue to control the steering curvature (for reviews see [10,11]).…”

“…The needle assembly had a total diameter of 2 mm (cf. diameter range of common hypodermic needles: 0.2-4.3 mm [22]) and a length of 200 mm (in line with the penetration depths in [6]). The needle tip was conical (angle about 20 o ) and sharp.…”

Toward a Miniaturized Needle Steering System With Path Planning for Obstacle Avoidance

“…Recently, however, there have been efforts to use flexible needles to reach a target while avoiding 'no-go' areas. Apart from ours [3][4][5], these researches can be broadly classified into three main categories: needle steering methods based on the lateral motion of an external base and deformation of the soft tissue [6,7]; steering control of flexible needles with a fixed-shape bevel tip [8,9] and steering control using concentric tubes [10,11]. These methods have substantially advanced the state of the art, but there remain a number of outstanding research challenges which stand in the way of a widespread adoption of these technologies.…”

Robotic burrowing in brain parenchyma tissue

“…Catheters can place the micro-systems using external force (Frasson et al, 2007). Various swimming methods have been suggested using magnetic (Zhang et al, 2009;Yesin et al, 2006;Ishiyama et al, 2001), piezoelectric (Kosa et al, 2007, Watson et al, 2009) and electro active polymer (Guo et al, 2006) actuators.…”