Integrated Remote Neurosurgical System.
Abstract
We are constructing the Integrated Remote Neurosurgical System (IRNS), a remotely-operated neurosurgical microscope with high-speed communications and a surgeon-accessible user interface. The IRNS will allow high quality bidirectional mentoring in the neurosurgical suite, allowing a remote neurosurgeon to lend expertise to the Operating Room-based (OR) neurosurgical team. The IRNS uses a generic microscope/transport model, allowing the system to be useful for remote operation of a general class of operating room robots and video sources. We have placed a strong emphasis on telepresence in the IRNS, including bidirectional audio, image archiving, voice recognition, bidirectional whiteboarding, and an interface to our presurgical stereotactic planning system. The IRNS also incorporates the ability to remotely control the microscope position, zoom, and focus. The remote workstation includes several methods for microscope control. The primary interaction method is a force-reflecting handgrip mounted on a 6-degree-of-freedom robot which allows the remote surgeon to intuitively position the microscope. The components of the IRNS are integrated using Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) switching to provide low latency data transfer. The IRNS provides an opportunity to assess the benefits of remote surgical mentoring and to gain technical expertise in teleoperation of surgical devices.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 01, 1997
- Accession Number
- ADA331436
Entities
People
- J. H. Downs Iii
- Neal F. Kassell
Organizations
- University of Virginia