| abstract |
A method and apparatus for stereotactic surgery on a body, such as surgery on the brain or spine. A guidance fixture is used that includes a mounting base having a central axis, a controllable instrument drive for moving a surgical instrument along a constrained trajectory in response to a drive control signal, an actuated adjustment mechanism coupled between the mounting base and the controllable instrument drive, and a sensor system coupled to the adjustment mechanism. The mounting base of the guidance fixture is attached to the body and a location of the mounting base in a three-dimensional image of the body is determined, for example, using a remote sensing device, such as a camera, and tracking markers, such as LEDs, attached to the guidance fixture. Sensor signals encoding the orientation of the constrained trajectory and encoding a position of the surgical instrument along the constrained trajectory are generated and transmitted from the guidance fixture. An adjustment control signal is received and the orientation of the constrained trajectory relative to the mounting base is adjusted in response to the received adjustment control signal. |