Robot for minimally invasive neurosurgery

A robotic device for performing an intracranial procedure at a target region of a subject's brain, comprising:

• a baseplate adapted for mounting on the skull of a subject;
• a rotatable element disposed on said baseplate, and having an opening in its central region;
• a cannula mounted on said rotatable element coaxially with said opening, and which rotates with rotation of said rotatable element, said cannula being robotically controlled to provide motion into and out of the skull of said subject;
• and
• a flexible needle having mechanical properties, disposed in said cannula, said flexible needle being controlled to provide motion into and out of a non-axial aperture in the distal part of said cannula, and having a structure adapted to enable said needle to change its shape to exit said non-axial aperture and to continue said motion out of said aperture to said target region while maintaining the shape it possessed prior to exit out of said aperture, and without losing said mechanical properties;
• wherein the outside diameter of said flexible needle is less than 4 mm, and said non-axial aperture comprises a curved section of said cannula, exiting said cannula at essentially right angles to the axis of said cannula and having a radius of curvature sufficiently small that the exit aperture of said curved path is no more than the external diameter of said cannula, and
• wherein said mechanical properties are such that a 5 gm. force applied laterally to said flexible needle, would not cause a deflection of more than 1 mm at a point 30 mm. distant from a position at which said needle is clamped.