Title :
An illuminating retractor for intracranial microneurosurgery
Author :
Mirsky, Roman ; McCullough, Timothy M. ; Grady, M. Sean ; Winn, H. Richard ; Howard, Matthew A., III ; Gillies, George T.
Author_Institution :
Div. of Neurological Surgery, Iowa Univ., Iowa City, IA, USA
Abstract :
During certain microneurosurgical procedures, the illumination provided by current coaxial microscope light sources is suboptimal. One potential solution is the surgical light blade (SLB), a malleable retractor incorporating a flat fiberoptic bundle along its surface. The SLB provides intense illumination within the surgical field without decreasing the amount of limited operating space. A prototype of the SLB was tested in six patients. Results suggest that with further development the SLB could become useful for intracranial microneurosurgery.
Keywords :
biomedical equipment; brain; optical fibres; optical microscopy; surgery; coaxial microscope light sources; flat fiberoptic bundle; illuminating retractor; intense illumination; intracranial microneurosurgery; limited operating space; malleable retractor; medical instrumentation; suboptimal illumination; surgical light blade; Blades; Coaxial components; Light sources; Lighting; Microscopy; Optical fiber cables; Optical fiber testing; Prototypes; Surgery; Visualization; Brain Diseases; Equipment Design; Fiber Optics; Humans; Lighting; Microscopy; Microsurgery; Neurosurgery;
Journal_Title :
Biomedical Engineering, IEEE Transactions on
