Design, Analysis, and Evaluation of a Remotely Actuated MRI-Compatible Neurosurgical Robot

The letter presents an MRI-compatible neurosurgical robotic system that is designed to operate the head-mounted meso-scale 6-degree-of-freedom (DoF) spring-based MINIR-II. The robotic system consists of an actuation module, a transmission module, and the robot module. The transmission module consist of a switching mechanism for reducing the required number of motors by half, an innovative linkage mechanism to insert and retract the robot with minimal tendon displacement and friction loss, and a quick-connect mechanism for easy attachment of the disposable MINIR-II. Design, analysis, and development of each module are described in detail. Most of the critical components such as the robot, the quick-connect, the linkage mechanism, and various gear-pulley combinations in our design are 3-D printed. Preliminary mechanical properties characterization of the system and the capability of the underactuated system to replicate the critical functions of the 6-DoF robot are presented. The robot motion capability in a brain phantom model and its MRI compatibility in a 7-T magnet were verified.