Principles of Computer Numerical Control Applied to Small Research Animal Surgical Procedures

The tools and techniques available for systems neuroscientists for neural recording and stimulation during behavior have become plentiful in the last decade. The tools for implementing these techniques in vivo, however, have not advanced respectively. The use of these techniques requires the removal of sections of skull tissue without damaging the underlying tissue, which is a very delicate procedure requiring significant training. Automating a part of the tissue removal processes would potentially enable more precise procedures to be performed, and it could democratize these procedres for widespread adoption by neuroscience lab groups. Here, we describe the ‘Craniobot’, a microsurgery platform that combines automated skull surface profiling with a computer numerical controlled (CNC) milling machine to perform a variety of microsurgical procedures in mice. Surface profiling by the Craniobot has micrometer precision, and the surface profiling information can be used to perform milling operations with relatively quick, allowing high throughput. We have used the Craniobot to perform skull thinning, small to large craniotomies, as well as drilling pilot holes for anchoring cranial implants. The Craniobot is implemented using open source and customizable machining practices and can be built with of the shelf parts for under $1000.

A Novel Lead Garment Structural System to Alleviate Orthopedic Stress for Surgeons

Cardiovascular, orthopedic, and interventional radiology procedures using fluoroscopy require healthcare professionals to wear heavy lead garments for radiation protection, sometimes for up to 12 hours per day. Wearing lead garments for prolonged periods of time can lead to musculoskeletal injuries, discomfort, and fatigue. MobiLead is a mobile lead garment frame that was developed to reduce the weight supported by the user in an effort to mitigate these problems. The MobiLead system moves the lower garment load off the user’s body to a structural ground-supported frame and redistributes the upper load from the shoulders to the hips through a torso frame. The system is compact and maximizes the limited space available in operating rooms, while still giving the surgeon adequate mobility for various emergency procedures. Preliminary analysis of device effectiveness was conducted using electromyography and qualitative surgeon user feedback surveys. This paper will discuss the design, fabrication, and testing procedures for this mobile radiation protection system optimizing both support and mobility.

The Application of Deep Learning for the Classification of Internal Human Cardiac Anatomy

The applications of sensing and localization are becoming more sophisticated in many invasive and non-invasive surgical procedures and there is great interest to apply them to the human heart. Ideally, such tools could be indispensable for allowing physicians to spatially understand relative tissue morphologies and their associated electrical conduction. Yet today there remains a steep divide between the creation of spatial environment models and the contextual understandings of adjacent features. To begin to address this, we explore the problem of anatomical perception by applying deep learning to the identification of internal cardiac anatomy images.

Design of a Thumb Strength Testing Device

The scope of the project was to design a pneumatic cylinder for measuring the resistive and applied force of the flexor pollicis longus (FPL) after anterior interosseous nerve (AIN) surgery. The patient’s distal section of the first phalange, of the thumb, is the area of evaluation. The device is intended for assessing both the quality of the surgery results as well as physical therapy progression. Criteria such as mobility, compact design, accuracy, repeatability, and ease of operation are some of the major requirements. The initial prototype is intended to collect FPL strength data to establish operating conditions.

Multiscale Entropy Technique Discriminates Single Lead ECG’s With Normal Sinus Rhythm and Sleep Apnea

Sleep apnea is characterized by abnormal interruptions in breathing during sleep due to partial or complete airway obstructions affecting middle-aged men and women on an estimated ∼4% of the population [1]. While the disorder is clinically manageable to relieve patients, the challenge occurs with diagnosis, with many patients going undiagnosed leading to further complications such as ischemic heart diseases, stroke etc. Sleep apnea also significantly affects the quality of day to day life causing sleepiness and fatigue. Polysomnography (PSG) technique is currently a used for detecting sleep apnea which is a comprehensive sleep test to diagnose sleep disorders by recording brain waves, the oxygen level in the blood, heart rate, breathing, eye and leg movements during the study. However, PSG test is very expensive, requires patients to stay overnight and is known to cause inconvenience to the patients.

Real-Time Robust 3D Plane Extraction for Wearable Robot Perception and Control

Wearable environment perception system has the great potential for improving the autonomous control of mobility aids [1]. A visual perception system could provide abundant information of surroundings to assist the task-oriented control such as navigation, obstacle avoidance, object detection, etc., which are essential functions for the wearers who are visually impaired or blind [2, 3, 4]. Moreover, a vision-based terrain sensing is a critical input to the decision-making for the intelligent control system. Especially for the users who find difficulties in manually achieving a seamless control model transition.

Finite Element Studies of Triple Actuation of Shape Memory Alloy Wires for Surgical Tools

Since the early discovery in 1951 [1], shape memory alloys (SMAs) have been used in design and development of several innovative engineering systems. SMAs’ unique characteristics have introduced unconventional alternatives in design and development of advanced devices. SMA’s field of applications has covered many areas from aerospace to auto industries, and medical devices [2]. During the past couple of decades, scientists have suggested material models to predict the SMA’s shape memory effect (SME) and its superelastic behavior. The superelastic characteristic of SMAs (its capability to exhibit a large recoverable strain) has been widely used to develop innovative products including biomedical implants such as stents, artificial heart valves, orthodontic wires, frames of indestructible spectacles, etc. However, its actuation capabilities, known as SME, hasn’t been thoroughly expanded. The number of products privileging from SMA’s SME behavior has been very limited. The reason relies on the SMA’s complex material properties that depend on the stress, strain and temperature at every stage of actuation as well as the material’s processing and the thermomechanical loading history.

Design of a Stitched Textile-Based Thermal Actuator Garment to Attenuate Peripheral Microclimate Experience

Temperature is an important influencer of homeostatic comfort for humans, and its influence extends beyond life-preservation functions into cognitive and emotional effects. To augment metabolic processes in cold climates, many on-body heating solutions are currently available in the commercial market, ranging from chemical heat packs to electrically heated accessories and clothing. These products typically prioritize heating the body core in extreme conditions. By contrast, the experience of thermal comfort in the band around homeostatic comfort temperatures is much more strongly driven by experience of temperature in the body’s periphery: the hands, feet, and face [1]. Thermal sensitivity is highest in the distal extremities and has been established as the best correlate of overall perception of thermal comfort [2], [3]. In the medical context, this is especially significant in treating vasospastic disorders such as Raynaud’s Syndrome, where a spastic vascular response in peripheral vessels results in an over-reaction to cold temperatures proximal to the thermoneutral zone [4].

Waterjet Assisted Craniotome for Reduced Dural Tears

A craniotomy is a procedure where a piece of the skull is removed in order to gain access to the brain. This is commonly done to remove brain tumors, treat epilepsy, and to treat traumatic brain injury. Currently, the craniotomy procedure involves drilling one or more burr holes and then using a craniotome to complete the cut. The craniotome consists of a rotating cutting tool and a dura guard, which is intended to prevent the cutting tool from touching the dura. However, even with the dura guard, dural tears occur in approximately 20–30% of craniotomy procedures [1], [2]. There are approximately 160,000 craniotomies performed per year in the United States [3]. Dural tears add time to the craniotomy procedure due to the increased difficulty in suturing the dura and the potential need to use synthetic dura material in order to reclose the dura. Also, if the dura tears while using the craniotome, the brain is no longer protected as the craniotomy is completed. There is a strong desire among neurosurgeons to have an improved tool for craniotomies that reduces the incidence of dural tears.

Neutral Electrode Contact Quality Monitoring: Quantifying Latent Risks, Improving Testability

In high-frequency (“HF”) monopolar electrosurgery (or radio-frequency ablation), high current density causes heating of tissue adjacent to a surgical instrument. HF current passes through tissue at a frequency sufficiently high to avoid stimulation of muscle, but intentionally causes I2R heating of tissue for the purposes of ablation, dissection, and coagulation. In addition to the surgical tool, a Neutral Electrode (“NE”, often called a “ground pad”, “return electrode”, or simply “pad”) contacts the patient to complete the electrical circuit, as shown in Fig. 1.