A miniaturized ultrasonic micro-hole perforator for minimally invasive craniotomy

Liao, S., Li, X. , Deng, M., Liu, B., Wang, Y., Saw, S. N. and Li, Z. (2023) A miniaturized ultrasonic micro-hole perforator for minimally invasive craniotomy. IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering, (doi: 10.1109/TBME.2023.3234965) (Early Online Publication)

Abstract

Objective: Micro-hole perforation on skull is urgently desired for minimally invasive insertion of micro-tools in brain for diagnostic or treatment purpose. However, a micro drill bit would easily fracture, making it difficult to safely generate a micro-hole on the hard skull. Methods: In this study, we present a method for ultrasonic vibration assisted micro-hole perforation on skull in a manner similar to subcutaneous injection on soft tissue. For this purpose, a high amplitude miniaturized ultrasonic tool with a 500 μm tip diameter micro-hole perforator was developed with simulation and experimental characterization. In-depth investigation of micro-hole generation mechanism was performed with systematic experiments on animal skull with a bespoke test rig; effects of vibration amplitude and feed rate on hole forming characteristics were systematically studied. It was observed that by exploiting skull bone's unique structural and material properties, the ultrasonic micro-perforator could locally damage bone tissue with micro-porosities, induce sufficient plastic deformation to bone tissue around the micro-hole and refrain elastic recovery after tool withdraw, generating a micro-hole on skull without material. Results : Under optimized conditions, high quality micro-holes could be formed on the hard skull with a force (< 1N) even smaller than that for subcutaneous injection on soft skin. Conclusion: This study would provide a safe and effective method and a miniaturized device for micro-hole perforation on skull for minimally invasive neural interventions.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: This work was financially supported in part by the Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation of Guangdong Province (2021A1515011818), Shenzhen Science and Technology Program (JCYJ20220530145600001), National Natural Science Foundation of China (52003305), the Foundation of Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Sensor Technology and Biomedical Instrument (2020B1212060077).
• Status: Early Online Publication
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Li, Dr Xuan
• Authors: Liao, S., Li, X., Deng, M., Liu, B., Wang, Y., Saw, S. N., and Li, Z.
• College/School: College of Science and Engineering > School of Engineering > Systems Power and Energy
• Journal Name: IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering
• Publisher: IEEE
• ISSN: 0018-9294
• ISSN (Online): 1558-2531
• Published Online: 06 January 2023
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2023 IEEE
• First Published: First published in IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering 2023
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced in accordance with the publisher copyright policy