The ROBOCAST project focuses on robot assisted keyhole neurosurgery. This term refers to a brain surgery performed through a very small hole in the skull called burr hole. The reduced dimensions are the reason why it is called also “keyhole”. This surgery is carried out for several interventions, from endoscopy to biopsy and deep brain stimulation. Needles and catheters are inserted into the brain through the tiny hole for biopsy and therapy, including, among others the tasks of blood/fluid sampling, tissue biopsy, cryogenic and electrolytic ablation, brachytherapy, deep brain stimulation (DBS), diagnostic imaging, and a number of other minimally invasive surgical procedures.
Related pathologies are tumours, hydrocephalus, dystonia, essential tremor, Parkinson’s Disease, Tourette Syndrome, clinical depression, phantom limb pain, cluster headache and epilepsy. The ROBOCAST project outcome is a system for the assistance of the surgeon during keyhole interventions on the brain. It has a mechatronic part and an intelligence part. The mechatronic device consists of a robot holding the instruments for the surgeon and inserting them in the brain with a smooth and precise controlled autonomous movement. The trajectory is defined by the intelligence of the ROBOCAST system and is approved by the surgeon, which is and remains the responsible of the outcome, before the insertion of the surgical instruments.