Canadian space age technology transferred to medical applications - Imris Inc
The following is excerpted from a Canadian Space Agency document; you can source the entire document here:
http://www.space.gc.ca/pdf/tech-success-2003....arch?q=mri transport canadarm&rlz=1I7SUNA_en&oe=UTF-8&redir_esc=&um=1&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=nw
This sounds a lot like the technology da Vinci robots use, the reference to NeuroArm is an Imris Inc system under development. The excerpt below from the Canadian Space Agency document adds some relevant back ground to the companies press release of Feb 4, 2010 announcing their acquisition of a prototype surgical robot.
Excerpt from press release.
The Company announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire NeuroArm Surgical Limited (“NASL”), a privately held company based in Calgary, Alberta, and its magnetic resonance compatible neurosurgical robot. IMRIS has also entered into a memorandum of understanding with MacDonald Dettwiler and Associates Limited (“MDA”) to create the next generation of the technology. IMRIS will issue 1.6 million common shares as consideration for the acquisition of NASL, including the technology, patents and associated intellectual property.
Robots Extend a Healing Hand
“The technology behind the success of Canadarm and Canadarm2 is extending its reach into the field of medicine. The result—a new generation of surgical robots and systems— promises to revolutionize health care delivery for generations to come. Using robotic arms, surgeons can employ minimally invasive tools such as laser scalpels, with exceptional accuracy. The robotic arms eliminate the surgeon’s natural hand tremors, resulting in surgery so precise it cannot be duplicated by the human hand. For patients, the results are remarkable. Smaller instruments and greater precision mean smaller incisions. As a result, recovery is often measured in days instead of weeks and the risk of complications is greatly reduced. Behind this dramatic marriage of space technology and medical innovation is MD Robotics (maker of the world-renowned Canadarm) and two of Canada’s leading medical research centres: the Seaman Family MR (Magnetic Resonance) Centre in Calgary and CSTAR (Canadian Surgical Technologies & Advanced Robotics) in London, Ontario. At the Seaman Family MR Centre, researchers are developing a MR-compatible robotic system for neurosurgery called NeuroArm. NeuroArm is designed to perform a wide range of functions—from needle insertion, suturing and cauterizing to cutting, manipulation of a retractor, and suction and irrigation. NeuroArm will be the first robot in the world to be image guided, to have a sense of touch, to work with MRI machines, and to be equipped with neurosurgical tools. NeuroArm will be positioned inside the operating room and guided by a surgeon from outside the operating room. Digital 3D images transmitted to a workstation will enable the surgeon to guide the robot while looking inside the human brain. Using NeuroArm, doctors will be able to perform surgeries once considered impossible, and also improve the success rate of existing procedures. CSTAR is Canada's national centre for developing and testing the next generation of minimally invasive surgical technologies and techniques. A world leader in medical robotics, it pioneered the world's first robotic, closed-chest, single coronary artery bypass on a beating heart in 1999. CSTAR is a collaborative effort of the London Health Sciences Centre and the Lawson Health Research Institute. Early in 2003, CSTAR used robotics to perform a pyeloplasty, a procedure to correct blockages in the ureter or in the drainage system of the kidney. The alliance of MDR with two of Canada’s pre-eminent medical research centres promises to eliminate a number of medicine’s traditional geographical barriers, so that improved health care and life-saving interventions will soon be available to people in remote locations on Earth, and to astronauts in space. For MDR, already a leader in the development of space robotics, this means a similar role in the area of medical robotics. And that means better health services for us all."
The following is excerpted from a Canadian Space Agency document; you can source the entire document here:
http://www.space.gc.ca/pdf/tech-success-2003....arch?q=mri transport canadarm&rlz=1I7SUNA_en&oe=UTF-8&redir_esc=&um=1&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=nw
This sounds a lot like the technology da Vinci robots use, the reference to NeuroArm is an Imris Inc system under development. The excerpt below from the Canadian Space Agency document adds some relevant back ground to the companies press release of Feb 4, 2010 announcing their acquisition of a prototype surgical robot.
Excerpt from press release.
The Company announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire NeuroArm Surgical Limited (“NASL”), a privately held company based in Calgary, Alberta, and its magnetic resonance compatible neurosurgical robot. IMRIS has also entered into a memorandum of understanding with MacDonald Dettwiler and Associates Limited (“MDA”) to create the next generation of the technology. IMRIS will issue 1.6 million common shares as consideration for the acquisition of NASL, including the technology, patents and associated intellectual property.
Robots Extend a Healing Hand
“The technology behind the success of Canadarm and Canadarm2 is extending its reach into the field of medicine. The result—a new generation of surgical robots and systems— promises to revolutionize health care delivery for generations to come. Using robotic arms, surgeons can employ minimally invasive tools such as laser scalpels, with exceptional accuracy. The robotic arms eliminate the surgeon’s natural hand tremors, resulting in surgery so precise it cannot be duplicated by the human hand. For patients, the results are remarkable. Smaller instruments and greater precision mean smaller incisions. As a result, recovery is often measured in days instead of weeks and the risk of complications is greatly reduced. Behind this dramatic marriage of space technology and medical innovation is MD Robotics (maker of the world-renowned Canadarm) and two of Canada’s leading medical research centres: the Seaman Family MR (Magnetic Resonance) Centre in Calgary and CSTAR (Canadian Surgical Technologies & Advanced Robotics) in London, Ontario. At the Seaman Family MR Centre, researchers are developing a MR-compatible robotic system for neurosurgery called NeuroArm. NeuroArm is designed to perform a wide range of functions—from needle insertion, suturing and cauterizing to cutting, manipulation of a retractor, and suction and irrigation. NeuroArm will be the first robot in the world to be image guided, to have a sense of touch, to work with MRI machines, and to be equipped with neurosurgical tools. NeuroArm will be positioned inside the operating room and guided by a surgeon from outside the operating room. Digital 3D images transmitted to a workstation will enable the surgeon to guide the robot while looking inside the human brain. Using NeuroArm, doctors will be able to perform surgeries once considered impossible, and also improve the success rate of existing procedures. CSTAR is Canada's national centre for developing and testing the next generation of minimally invasive surgical technologies and techniques. A world leader in medical robotics, it pioneered the world's first robotic, closed-chest, single coronary artery bypass on a beating heart in 1999. CSTAR is a collaborative effort of the London Health Sciences Centre and the Lawson Health Research Institute. Early in 2003, CSTAR used robotics to perform a pyeloplasty, a procedure to correct blockages in the ureter or in the drainage system of the kidney. The alliance of MDR with two of Canada’s pre-eminent medical research centres promises to eliminate a number of medicine’s traditional geographical barriers, so that improved health care and life-saving interventions will soon be available to people in remote locations on Earth, and to astronauts in space. For MDR, already a leader in the development of space robotics, this means a similar role in the area of medical robotics. And that means better health services for us all."
