University Hospital team performs first-in-Canada robot-assisted brain surgery
Kate Dubinski | CBC News | Posted: June 15, 2023 9:00 AM | Last Updated: June 16, 2023
The deep brain stimulation procedure is used to treat seizures caused by epilepsy
In a Canadian first, a team at University Hospital in London, Ont., has used a robot to help them implant tiny electrodes deep into the brains of patients to treat epilepsy.
Two to four electrodes are connected to a pacemaker which provides stimulation to the brain, enough to alter brain activity and prevent or limit seizures.
"The electrodes are about one to two millimetres in diameter and they're about 10 centimetres deep from the skull," said neurosurgeon Dr. Jonathan Lau, who has performed the procedure three times since the beginning of the year.
"If we put them in the appropriate spots, we can have a significant reduction in seizures and in a very small subset, we can also have seizure freedom."
The deep brain stimulation surgery isn't new, but the use of the Renishaw neuromate robot is.
"It eliminates things that used to cause human error, such as keeping track of a lot of numbers and angles as you go from one spot to the next," Lau said. "It allows us to implant these electrodes very accurately."
Changing lives
Because the process is automated, the procedure is faster and more accurate, Lau added.
The treatment is available to patients who wouldn't usually be considered candidates for surgery," said Dr. David Steven, another neurosurgeon at University Hospital and chair of the clinical neurological sciences department at the Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry.
The neuromate robot has been used since 2017 to map epileptic seizure activity in the brain for patients who don't respond to medication or traditional treatment.
"Dr. Lau has taken it a step further to treat the condition and change the lives of those who can experience up to dozens of seizures a day," the hospital said in a statement.