An Introduction to Neurosurgical Robotics

This half-day virtual course will allow a surgeon with no prior knowledge of mechanical engineering concepts to understand the relevant literature on new devices, particularly surgical robots. Attendees will have the opportunity to consolidate the discussed concepts by illustration of the development and evaluation processes in case studies. 

The first half of the course will provide a practical introduction to the basic concepts in robotics relevant to neurosurgery – this will include discussion of robotic architecture, motion, sensors, and user-interface paradigms. The second half of the course will focus on the evaluation of novel neurosurgical devices via the IDEAL framework.