Neuroendovascular Robotics Show Potential for Improving Safety of Complex Procedures

July 27, 2022—The Society of NeuroInterventional Surgery (SNIS) announced findings from a study that suggest stroke surgery and other neuroendovascular procedures could be made safer and easier through robotics. The study, “Towards Self-steering Microcatheters for Neurointervention,” was presented at the SNIS 19th annual meeting, held July 25-29 in Toronto, Canada.

According to SNIS, a new multiarticulated, self-steering microcatheter for neuroendovascular surgery has the potential to increase technical precision, reduce procedure time, reduce radiation exposure, and enable semiautomation of catheter navigation. For patients, this could mean safer and more efficient surgeries, better outcomes, and an overall seamless experience.

Investigators tested the robot through mock trials. The prototype autonomously navigated through the surgery simulation.

SNIS advised that this type of technology would be applicable to any neurovascular procedure, all of which require navigation through small, tortuous, delicate vessels. Beyond stroke, these pathologies include brain aneurysms, cerebral arteriovenous malformations, arteriovenous fistulae, and other conditions.

Rohan Chitale, MD, the lead author of the study, is the neurosurgery residency associate program director and an associate professor of neurological surgery at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee.

“The creation of this technology is a first step toward semiautonomous navigation for neuroendovascular procedures,” commented Dr. Chitale in the SNIS press release. “We hope that developing robotic catheters that can bend on command and sense their surroundings will allow these complex, risky procedures to be performed more simply and safely.”