IMAGE GUIDED MAGNETIC STEREOTAXIS

ADVANCES IN THE NEUROSCIENCES HAVE RESULTED IN BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF THE PATHOPHYSIOLOGY OF ANY DISORDERS OF THE HUMAN NERVOUS SYSTEM (CNS). LIKEWISE, COMPUTER TOMOGRAPHY AND MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING NOW PROVIDE HIGH ANATOMIC RESOLUTION OF CNS STRUCTURES. INTERVENTION IN MANY CNS DISEASES IS HINDERED, HOWEVER, BY PHYSICAL CONSTRAINTS SUCH AS THE BLOOD-BRAIN BARRIER, THE UNIQUE NATURE OF FUNCTIONS WITHIN THE BRAIN, AND THE SENSITIVITY OF THE BRAIN TO SURGICAL MANIPULATION. THIS RESEARCH COMBINES THE ADVANCES IN NEUROSCIENCES AND IMAGING WITH COMPUTER SCIENCE AND SUPERCONDICTIVITY TO TEST A DEVICE DESIGNED TO OVERCOME THE PHYSICAL BARRIERS TO TREATMENT OF CNS DISORDERS. THIS DEVICE (THE MAGNETIC STEREOTAXIS SYSTEM) MAGNETICALLLY MANIPULATES A SMALL METRALLIC SEED THROUGH THE BRAIN PARENCHYMA TO DELIVER HIGHLY TARGETED THERAPY FOR DISEASES SUCH AS MALIGNANT BRAIN TUMORS, EPILEPSY OR PARKINSON'S DISEASE. A SURGEON GUIDES THE SEED USING REAL-TIME IMAGING OF SEED MOVEMENT DISPLAYED ON PREVIOUSLY OBTAINED STEREOTACTIC MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGES. THIS RESEARCH WILL 1) CALIBRATE THE IMAGING AND STEREOTAXIS SYSTEMS, 2) MAGNETICALLY MANIPULATE A SEED IN A BRAIN PHANTOM, AND 3) MAGNETICALLLY MANIPULATE A SEED-CATHETER ARRAY IN A BRAIN PHANTOM.