Development of an epiduroscope with radiation-free navigation assistance and neural activity detection capabilities
St Andrews, Application: 37,000, Nov 2012
The possibility to safely access the spine with a small endoscope would enable a disruptive approach to the treatment of correlates of spinal injuries.
Yet, to the present day, spinal endoscopy (epiduroscopy) suffers from severe drawbacks. In particular, epiduroscopes are very small, and the consequent poor image quality mandates the use of continuous x-ray to guide them into and through the spine. The consequent exposure of the patient to very high x-ray doses does not allow the use of this potentially revolutionary tool on a systematic basis. We have recently demonstrated a technique to derive the position of a spinal catheter using photonic technologies, which do not expose the patient to harmful radiation. This project is aimed at using this technique to build a full featured prototype of an epiduroscope capable of safe navigation without the assistance of x-rays, including pre-clinical functional tests.
Considered by the Scientific Committee 12 JUN 2012 who believed there was an over emphasis on the danger from radiation. Further this was not specifically linked to SCI.
NOT RECOMMENDED