Abstract
Background
The motor-assisted robotic stereotaxy system presents a compact and light-weight robotic system for stereotactic neurosurgery. Our system is designed to position probes in the human brain for various applications, for example, deep brain stimulation. It features five fully automated axes. High positioning accuracy is of utmost importance in robotic neurosurgery.
Methods
First, the key parameters of the robot’s kinematics are determined using an optical tracking system. Next, the positioning errors at the center of the arc—which is equivalent to the target position in stereotactic interventions—are investigated using a set of perpendicular cameras. A modeless robot calibration method is introduced and evaluated. To conclude, the application accuracy of the robot is studied in a phantom trial.
Results
We identified the bending of the arc under load as the robot’s main error source. A calibration algorithm was implemented to compensate for the deflection of the robot’s arc. The mean error after the calibration was 0.26 mm, the 68.27th percentile was 0.32 mm, and the 95.45th was 0.50 mm.
Conclusion
The kinematic properties of the robot were measured, and based on the results an appropriate calibration method was derived. With mean errors smaller than currently used mechanical systems, our results show that the robot’s accuracy is appropriate for stereotactic interventions.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ostertag C, Mennel H, Kiessling M (1980) Stereotactic biopsy of brain tumors. Surg Neurol 14(4): 275
Ondo W, Jankovic J, Schwartz K, Almaguer M, Simpson R (1998) Unilateral thalamic deep brain stimulation for refractory essential tremor and Parkinson’s disease tremor. Neurology 51(4): 1063
Loddenkemper T, Pan A, Neme S, Baker K, Rezai A, Dinner D, Montgomery E Jr, Lueders H (2001) Deep brain stimulation in epilepsy. J Clin Neurophysiol 18(6): 514
Richardson D, Akil H (1977) Pain reduction by electrical brain stimulation in man. J Neurosurg 47(2): 184–194
Rasche D, Rinaldi P, Young R, Tronnier V (2006) Deep brain stimulation for the treatment of various chronic pain syndromes. Neurosurg Focus 21(6): E8
Allan L, Petit G, Brundin P (2010) Cell transplantation in Parkinson’s disease: problems and perspectives. Curr Opin Neurol 23(4): 426
Martinez H, Gonzalez-Garza M, Moreno-Cuevas J, Caro E, Gutierrez-Jimenez E, Segura J (2009) Stem-cell transplantation into the frontal motor cortex in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis patients. Cytotherapy 11(1): 26–34
Bronstein J, Tagliati M, Alterman R, Lozano A, Volkmann J, Stefani A, Horak F, Okun M, Foote K, Krack P et al (2010) Deep brain stimulation for Parkinson disease: an expert consensus and review of key issues. Arch Neurol (online)
Schulder M (ed) (2003) Handbook of stereotactic and functional neurosurgery. Informa Healthcare
Medtronic: Nexframe stereotactic system manual. Tech. rep., Medtronic Inc Minneapolis USA (2010). URL http://professional.medtronic.com/
Bjartmarz H, Rehncrona S (2007) Comparison of accuracy and precision between frame-based and frameless stereotactic navigation for deep brain stimulation electrode implantation. Stereotact Funct Neurosurg 85: 235–242
Lanfranco A, Castellanos A, Desai J, Meyers W (2004) Robotic surgery: a current perspective. Ann Surg 239(1): 14
Kwoh YS, Hou J, Jonckheere E, Hayati S (1988) A robot with improved absolute positioning accuracy for ct guided stereotactic brain surgery. Biomed Eng IEEE Trans 35(2): 153–160
Benabid A, Cinquin P, Lavalle S, Le Bas J, Demongeot J, De Rougemont J (1987) Computer-driven robot for stereotactic surgery connected to CT scan and magnetic resonance imaging. Stereotact Funct Neurosurg 50(1–6): 153–154
Drake JM, Joy M, Goldenberg A, Kreindler D (1991) Computer-and robot-assisted resection of thalamic astrocytomas in children. Neurosurgery 29(1): 27
Morgan PS, Carter T, Davis S, Sepehri A, Punt J, Byrne P, Moody A, Finlay P (2003) The application accuracy of the pathfinder neurosurgical robot. In: International congress series CARS 2003. Computer assisted radiology and surgery. Proceedings of the 17th international congress and exhibition, pp 561–567
Li QH, Zamorano L, Pandya A, Perez R, Gong J, Diaz F (2002) The application accuracy of the neuromate robot quantitative comparison with frameless and frame-based surgical localization systems. Comput Aided Surg 7(2): 90–98
Medtech: Rosa neurosurgery robot. Tech. rep., Medtech SAS Montpellier France (2011). URL http://www.medtechsurgical.com/Products/ROSA
Karas C, Chiocca A (2007) Neurosurgical robotics: a review of brain and spine applications. J Robot Surg 1(1): 39–43
Craig JJ (2005) Introduction to robotics, mechanics and control. Pearson Prentice Hall, NJ, p 07458
Heinig M, Govela MF, Gasca F, Dold C, Hofmann UG, Tronnier V, Schlaefer A, Schweikard A (2011) Mars—motor assisted robotic stereotaxy system. In: Proceedings of the 5th international IEEE EMBS conference on neural engineering, pp 334–337
Kotsianos D, Wirth S, Fischer T, Euler E, Rock C, Linsenmaier U, Pfeifer KJ, Reiser M (2004) 3d imaging with an isocentric mobile c-arm. Eur Radiol 14: 1590–1595
Neitzel M, Mitschang P, Beresheim G (2004) Handbuch Verbundwerkstoffe: Werkstoffe, Verarbeitung, Anwendung. Hanser, Munich
atracsys: Accutrack 250. Accessed 29 Aug 2011 (2011). URL http://atracsys.com/products/trackingsystems.php
Mooring B, Driels M, Roth Z (1991) Fundamentals of manipulator calibration. Wiley, New York
Bai Y (2007) On the comparison of model-based and modeless robotic calibration based on a fuzzy interpolation method. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 31: 1243–1250
Lilliefors H (1969) On the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test for the exponential distribution with mean unknown. J Am Stat Assoc 64: 387–389
Eljamel MS (2007) Validation of the pathfinder neurosurgical robot using a phantom. Int J Med Robot Comput Assisted Surg 3(4): 372–377. doi:10.1002/rcs.153
Rachinger J, Bumm K, Wurm J, Bohr C, Nissen U, Dannenmann T, Buchfelder M, Iro H, Nimsky C (2007) A new mechatronic assistance system for the neurosurgical operating theatre: Implementation, assessment of accuracy and application concepts. Stereotact Funct Neurosurg 85(5): 249–255
Henderson JM, Holloway KL, Gaede SE, Rosenow JM (2004) The application accuracy of a skull-mounted trajectory guide system for image-guided functional neurosurgery. Comput Aided Surg 9(4): 155–160
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Heinig, M., Hofmann, U.G. & Schlaefer, A. Calibration of the motor-assisted robotic stereotaxy system: MARS. Int J CARS 7, 911–920 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11548-012-0676-7
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11548-012-0676-7