Drill Guide Fixture with Offset Bone Anchor for Cranial Stability
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current medical procedures for inserting needles or electrodes into the brain face challenges in maintaining stability during patient movement, as existing methods either rely on rigidly mounted robots that cannot adjust quickly enough to prevent tissue damage or require cumbersome skull frames that increase procedure time and morbidity.
Innovation Solution
A surgical robotic system with a drill guide fixture and cranial insertion fixture that allows for robotic preparation of the skull, followed by a temporary guide fixture attachment, enabling precise insertion of medical devices without continuous robotic assistance, using a drill guide fixture with a central and bone anchor drill guide to secure the cranial insertion fixture and adjust for trajectory changes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a robot is rigidly mounted to the floor and used to hold a guide tube, then the robot can maintain a stationary position, but sudden patient movement cannot be tracked quickly enough and the feedback response time is insufficient to prevent needle damage to brain tissue
Solution Approach 1:
The skull frame is attached to the patient's skull before needle insertion, and the mechanical arc mechanism is pre-calibrated to the frame's coordinate system. This preliminary setup creates a stable reference framework that remains fixed relative to the patient's skull, eliminating the need for real-time robotic tracking during needle insertion.
Solution Approach 2:
A metal skull frame serves as an intermediary between the patient's skull and the guide tube positioning system. The frame is rigidly attached to the skull and provides a stable mounting structure for the mechanical arc mechanism, decoupling the guide tube position from the patient's natural movements.
2Stability of the object's composition
If a metal frame is secured to the patient's skull using three or more pins, then the guide tube can maintain stable positioning relative to the skull, but the procedure becomes more complex and time-consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The positioning system is divided into separate functional components: a skull frame for mounting, a mechanical arc mechanism for positioning, and a guide tube for needle insertion. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized independently and simplifies the overall attachment process compared to a single integrated rigid frame.
Solution Approach 2:
The mechanical arc mechanism provides dynamic adjustment capability, allowing the guide tube to be positioned at multiple angles and orientations while maintaining stability once positioned. This replaces the need for a completely rigid fixed frame with a system that can be adjusted and then locked in place.
3Measurement precision
If a robot continuously adjusts its position through optical or force feedback during needle insertion, then the guide tube can remain stationary relative to the brain, but the feedback path may need to remain unimpaired and current feedback/response times are insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The feedback and continuous adjustment functions are extracted from the robotic positioning system. Instead of relying on continuous robotic feedback, the system uses a pre-established mechanical reference frame (skull frame with mechanical arc) that provides inherent stability without requiring active feedback during the procedure.
Data Source
AI summary
A drill guide fixture may be configured to prepare a skull for attachment of a cranial insertion fixture. The drill guide fixture may include a central drill guide and a bone anchor guide at a base of the drill guide fixture. The central drill guide may define a central drill guide hole therethrough, wherein the central drill guide hole has a first opening at a base of the drill guide fixture and a second opening spaced apart from the base of the drill guide fixture. The bone anchor drill guide may define a bone anchor drill guide hole therethrough, and the bone anchor drill guide hole may be offset from the central drill guide hole in a direction that is perpendicular with respect to a direction of the central drill guide hole. Related cranial insertion fixtures, robotic systems, and methods are also discussed.