Deerfield Imaging ("IMRIS") announced today that the FDA approved its SYMBIS Surgical System for use in stereotactic brain biopsies. The system merges intraoperative imaging with robotic technology, which experts believe may play a part in the future of neurosurgery.

"The technology is really breakthrough, and should benefit many patients needing neurosurgical procedures," Dr. Greg Sorensen, executive chairman of Deerfield Imaging, told HCB News.

"Our initial approval is for stereotactic guidance, which means, in practice, the placement of probes or of biopsy needles; typically patients with epilepsy or brain tumors or the need for deep brain stimulator placement, but the platform will enable much more in the future," he said.
SYMBIS allows surgeons to utilize minimally-invasive surgical techniques to remove diseased tissue from small and precise regions of the brain without damaging adjacent structures. Such technology diminishes the severity and likelihood of side effects, improves patient quality of life post-surgery, and increases the likelihood of a successful procedure.

The system is made up of two manipulator arms with eight degrees of freedom of movement on a mobile base. The surgeon, sitting in a workstation, operates the surgical arms remotely.

Unlike other systems on the market, SYMBIS is designed to include haptic feedback. When the surgeon pushes the robotic arm forward, they feel resistance that is just like what the probe at the end of the robotic arm is experiencing, so if the tissue is bone, it feels hard and if it is soft, the surgeon feels the control move smoothly, said Sorensen.

SYMBIS is also MR compatible and allows for simultaneous imaging with CT, MR or angiographic guidance while the robot is in use.

SYMBIS evolved from Project NeuroArm, which was initiated in the interest of creating a device that could be as precise and dexterous as a human hand without compromising surgical technique. The developers sought to integrate those capabilities into the surgical procedure with only minimal disruption to the traditional workflow, and to achieve all of this with non-ferromagnetic cameras, motors and actuators.

Last December, IMRIS successfully completed the human factors study for SYMBIS to investigate how humans interact physically and psychologically with it. It provided insight into a neurosurgeon’s perception of the system as well as their opinion about future clinical applications in neurosurgery, where robotics can bring clinical and economic benefits.

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