ViSE Researchers Awarded R01 for Robotic Acoustic Neuroma Surgery
A team of ViSE researchers led by Dr. Robert Webster was recently awarded a National Institutes of Health R01 grant to support a project entitled “Safe, rapid access to the internal auditory canal for acoustic neuroma.” This project proposes to apply image-guided parallel robotic technology to assist surgeons with acoustic neuroma surgery. The core hypothesis of the project is that acoustic neuroma removal can be accomplished more accurately, rapidly, and safely, by combining image-guided surgical techniques and miniature bone-mounted robots to augment the surgeon’s judgment and skill. This represents a shift away from the current manual procedure which relies on aggressive manual drilling of bone for several hours, followed by several hours of fine dissection with small, delicate motions to remove cancer in close proximity to vital nerves. The robot will allow the surgeon to devote his or her skills and energy to the portion of the surgery that require it most, automating the initial drilling phase which distracts from fine dissection and tires the surgeon, while ensuring the safety of vital bone-embedded structures during drilling. This project involves researchers at Vanderbilt from Mechanical Engineering, Computer Science, and Otolaryngology, exemplifying the collaborative environment at Vanderbilt and within ViSE, where engineers and surgeons work closely to solve challenging medical problems. Information on this project from NIH is available at the following link: