A commercial surgery robot that will allow doctors to perform microscopic operations on the brain using the most vivid visuals yet has been unveiled by Canadian scientists and engineers.

NeuroArm is the first surgical robot to be compatible with MRI (magnetic resonance imaging), its makers claim. This will enable neurosurgeons to perform their riskiest work while patients lie within an MRI machine, giving a clear 3D picture of even the smallest nerves. However, doctors are still on hand to intervene if serious complications arise.

The machine will let doctors use surgical techniques on afflictions such as brain tumours that unaided human surgeons are simply not dexterous enough to perform, says Garnette Sutherland, a neurosurgeon at the University of Calgary who heads the project. It is major step beyond the traditional view of just doctors and nurses operating on patients, he adds.

"There's been tremendous collaboration, so we have now got in the operating room a whole host of engineers and scientists who are contributing to help make neurosurgery better," Sutherland told reporters as the robot, armed with surgical tools, fiddled with tiny objects behind him.

The machine is expected to be used in its first operation this summer at Calgary's Foothills Hospital, site of the University of Calgary medical school's research facility.

Touchy feely

NeuroArm is operated from a control room, in which the surgeon grasps force-feedback handles, which lets them feel pressure and texture. This can prevent blood vessels and other tissue from being squeezed too hard during a procedure.

The operator also watches through a stereoscopic viewer, which provides depth perception, and can glance at a large MRI picture on a nearby computer screen. The operator can even hear the robot work, with microphones located near the surgical instruments. And a touch-screen allows a 3D graphic picture of the arms to be manipulated in any direction.

The robot cost CAN$27 million (US$24 million) to development and was created with help from MacDonald Dettwiler & Associates, the company that built a robotic arm called CanadArm for NASA's space shuttle.

"The goal of this is to make difficult surgeries easier, or impossible surgeries possible," says robotics engineer Alex Greer, who demonstrated the controls to the gathered media.

Sutherland and his team will start clinical testing of the machine for Canadian health regulators in the coming weeks.