Robotics  

A central challenge in the iMRI is the access to the patient. The most important considered approaches are on the one hand open MRI and on the other hand a robot, which leads the surgical instrument inside the "tube". Articulating arm manipulators are standardly used in clinical surgery in many cases (e.g. DaVinci system). In neurosurgery, robots are used for radiation treatment (e.g. Siemens CyberKnife). There is a series of research for robotic instrument guidance in the stereotactic, sometimes with the use of commercial navigation systems. A continuous preoperative planning, execution (with the robot as a tool holder) and the possibility of intraoperative imaging exists, but only in its initial stage.

The Fraunhofer Institute for Factory Operation and Automation has been successfully developed foundations and practical solutions for the use of virtual planning tools, including robotic manufacturing, industry, services and for training purposes in medicine. The interdisciplinary skills required for the project in the areas of robotics, image processing and computer science are available.

The medical expertise is introduced by partners at the University Hospital Magdeburg, which have been already participated supportively in the recent past and are directly integrated into the developments in the Research Campus.