¹ Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada
² Department of Experimental Surgery, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada
³ Department of Anesthesiology, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
⁴ Department of Anesthesia, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada
⁵ Institute of Biomedical Engineering, University of Montreal, Montreal, QC, Canada

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Abstract—Nerve blocks are common procedures used to remove sensation from a specific region of the body via injection of local anesthetic. Ultrasound-guided nerve blocks are common-place in anesthesia, but require specialized training and advanced bi-manual dexterity. This paper describes a system designed to robotically assist in ultrasoundguided nerve blocks. Robot-assisted nerve blocks could allow for more precise needle placement, and therefore a higher efficacy of blocks. This system is the first step in developing a completely automated nerve block system, which would also require the incorporation of ultrasound image recognition of nerves and other physiological markers.

Index Terms—Regional anesthesia, nerve blocks, robotic anesthesia.

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Cite: Joshua Morse, Mohamad Wehbe, Riccardo Taddei, Shantale Cyr, and Thomas M. Hemmerling, " Magellan: Technical Description of a New System for Robot-Assisted Nerve Blocks," Journal of Computers vol. 8, no. 6, pp. 1401-1405, 2013.