Abstract
This review provides an examination of contemporary neurosurgical robots and the developments that led to them. Improvements in localization, microsurgery and minimally invasive surgery have made robotic neurosurgery viable, as seen by the success of platforms such as the CyberKnife and neuromate. Neurosurgical robots can now perform specific surgical tasks such as skull-base drilling and craniotomies, as well as pedicle screw and cochlear electrode insertions. Growth trends in neurosurgical robotics are likely to continue but may be tempered by concerns over recent surgical robot recalls, commercially-driven surgeon training, and studies that show operational costs for surgical robotic procedures are often higher than traditional surgical methods. We point out that addressing performance issues related to navigation-related registration is an active area of research and will aid in improving overall robot neurosurgery performance and associated costs.
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Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank Dr. Kei Masani and Ms. Michelle Luk for their translation skills and Ryerson University’s Library staff for their help in document retrieval. Many thanks to the University of Washington, the Winnipeg Free Press, Geof Auchinleck, as well as DLR and Tilo Wüsthoff for permission to use their photos and images. We would also like to thank Mr. Auchinleck and Dr. Brian Day for providing details, photos and video of the Arthrobot. We acknowledge financial support by Canada’s Natural Sciences and Engineering Council (NSERC). Finally, we would like to thank our three anonymous reviewers and the ABME editorial staff for their constructive and supportive feedback.
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Associate Editor **aoxiang Zheng oversaw the review of this article.
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Smith, J.A., Jivraj, J., Wong, R. et al. 30 Years of Neurosurgical Robots: Review and Trends for Manipulators and Associated Navigational Systems. Ann Biomed Eng 44, 836–846 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10439-015-1475-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10439-015-1475-4