With other surgeries I guess it’s possible for the surgeon to identify the different tissues, nerves, and blood vessels through an X-ray or CT scan and plan the surgery accordingly
But with the brain, doesn’t everything look like a big blob of brain tissue? How can the surgeon tell what part of the brain performs what function and what’s safe to cut so that he can access the tumor? How would he avoid a Phineas Gage type outcome?
In: 33
I’ve often wondered this. I have a shunt installed and I am curious about how the NS would insert the catheter. Presumably he had to go through brain matter – or are there “gaps” that can be used? (My shunt is 32 years and I no longer see a specialist to ask him these questions).
The anatomy of the brain is pretty much the same in all.. every part of the brain is named and has a function for example the hippocampus is for memory, the occipital lobe is where vision processing is done etc..
There are predetermined surgical approaches to a part of the brain designed to cause minimum injury. Meaning, if I have to access a particular region in the brain, there is a described approach to reach there which involves cutting tissue which causes least damage based on previous studies of the brain and it’s functions.
Some parts are inaccessible, there ain’t really anything u can do for that.. but with what he have today, we can approach certain areas and do good justice.
The anatomy of the brain is pretty much the same in all.. every part of the brain is named and has a function for example the hippocampus is for memory, the occipital lobe is where vision processing is done etc..
There are predetermined surgical approaches to a part of the brain designed to cause minimum injury. Meaning, if I have to access a particular region in the brain, there is a described approach to reach there which involves cutting tissue which causes least damage based on previous studies of the brain and it’s functions.
Some parts are inaccessible, there ain’t really anything u can do for that.. but with what he have today, we can approach certain areas and do good justice.
The anatomy of the brain is pretty much the same in all.. every part of the brain is named and has a function for example the hippocampus is for memory, the occipital lobe is where vision processing is done etc..
There are predetermined surgical approaches to a part of the brain designed to cause minimum injury. Meaning, if I have to access a particular region in the brain, there is a described approach to reach there which involves cutting tissue which causes least damage based on previous studies of the brain and it’s functions.
Some parts are inaccessible, there ain’t really anything u can do for that.. but with what he have today, we can approach certain areas and do good justice.
Im a bit late to the party, but maybe have some interesting stuff to share. I work in the IT department of an academic hospital in the Netherlands. One of the software packages I support is Brainlab, which is used mainly for neurosurgery.
And that stuff is mindblowing. They are not the only provider who make such software, there are different options around.
Here’s what the software does:
You load in a CT and/or MRI scan that conforms to certain scanning protocols, i.e. thickness of “slices”, sort and amount of contrast injections used, etc.
The software then is able to mash together these images into one 3D reconstruction of the patients brain. Thanks to some extremely smart maths involved, you can then use different functions of the software to map out tumors, brain regions, and even single strands of nerves running through the brain. I’m not a neurologist, so some things I say may technically be called differently.
With these 3d mappings you can then make a plan on how to operate on the patient. And here comes the amazing stuff: the software is coupled to a few devices in the operation room. Those include computer monitors and infrared positioning cameras. Think Nintendo Wii. The patient will get a frame attached to their head (it’s screwed on, literally…) which has positioning balls in it that get recognized by the IR cameras. The patient then is run through another CT to be able match up the previously made 3D models with the currently installed frame attached to the head.
Why would you do all this? To be able to tell from the outside, where your instruments are on the inside of the head. All the surgical tools that the surgeon uses are also equipped with reflective positioning balls that get picked up by the cameras surrounding the operation table. On the screens the surgeon can see exactly where the probes, scalpels and what not are located inside of the head of the patient. That thy don’t have to cut open a whole section of the skull to be able to see what they’re doing.
This technique is also being used to treat parkinson patients with deep brain stimulation surgery, where an electrode is placed into the motor centre of the patients brain. There, this electrode gives off weak pulses to suppress the tremors. These electrodes have to be placed extremely carefully and aligned correctly to stimulate the right areas. And because the insertion of the electrodes is also guided by this whole navigation system, that’s now possible. Without these neuro navigation systems, it probably would be a lot more difficult to position them correctly in the first attempt.
Im a bit late to the party, but maybe have some interesting stuff to share. I work in the IT department of an academic hospital in the Netherlands. One of the software packages I support is Brainlab, which is used mainly for neurosurgery.
And that stuff is mindblowing. They are not the only provider who make such software, there are different options around.
Here’s what the software does:
You load in a CT and/or MRI scan that conforms to certain scanning protocols, i.e. thickness of “slices”, sort and amount of contrast injections used, etc.
The software then is able to mash together these images into one 3D reconstruction of the patients brain. Thanks to some extremely smart maths involved, you can then use different functions of the software to map out tumors, brain regions, and even single strands of nerves running through the brain. I’m not a neurologist, so some things I say may technically be called differently.
With these 3d mappings you can then make a plan on how to operate on the patient. And here comes the amazing stuff: the software is coupled to a few devices in the operation room. Those include computer monitors and infrared positioning cameras. Think Nintendo Wii. The patient will get a frame attached to their head (it’s screwed on, literally…) which has positioning balls in it that get recognized by the IR cameras. The patient then is run through another CT to be able match up the previously made 3D models with the currently installed frame attached to the head.
Why would you do all this? To be able to tell from the outside, where your instruments are on the inside of the head. All the surgical tools that the surgeon uses are also equipped with reflective positioning balls that get picked up by the cameras surrounding the operation table. On the screens the surgeon can see exactly where the probes, scalpels and what not are located inside of the head of the patient. That thy don’t have to cut open a whole section of the skull to be able to see what they’re doing.
This technique is also being used to treat parkinson patients with deep brain stimulation surgery, where an electrode is placed into the motor centre of the patients brain. There, this electrode gives off weak pulses to suppress the tremors. These electrodes have to be placed extremely carefully and aligned correctly to stimulate the right areas. And because the insertion of the electrodes is also guided by this whole navigation system, that’s now possible. Without these neuro navigation systems, it probably would be a lot more difficult to position them correctly in the first attempt.
Im a bit late to the party, but maybe have some interesting stuff to share. I work in the IT department of an academic hospital in the Netherlands. One of the software packages I support is Brainlab, which is used mainly for neurosurgery.
And that stuff is mindblowing. They are not the only provider who make such software, there are different options around.
Here’s what the software does:
You load in a CT and/or MRI scan that conforms to certain scanning protocols, i.e. thickness of “slices”, sort and amount of contrast injections used, etc.
The software then is able to mash together these images into one 3D reconstruction of the patients brain. Thanks to some extremely smart maths involved, you can then use different functions of the software to map out tumors, brain regions, and even single strands of nerves running through the brain. I’m not a neurologist, so some things I say may technically be called differently.
With these 3d mappings you can then make a plan on how to operate on the patient. And here comes the amazing stuff: the software is coupled to a few devices in the operation room. Those include computer monitors and infrared positioning cameras. Think Nintendo Wii. The patient will get a frame attached to their head (it’s screwed on, literally…) which has positioning balls in it that get recognized by the IR cameras. The patient then is run through another CT to be able match up the previously made 3D models with the currently installed frame attached to the head.
Why would you do all this? To be able to tell from the outside, where your instruments are on the inside of the head. All the surgical tools that the surgeon uses are also equipped with reflective positioning balls that get picked up by the cameras surrounding the operation table. On the screens the surgeon can see exactly where the probes, scalpels and what not are located inside of the head of the patient. That thy don’t have to cut open a whole section of the skull to be able to see what they’re doing.
This technique is also being used to treat parkinson patients with deep brain stimulation surgery, where an electrode is placed into the motor centre of the patients brain. There, this electrode gives off weak pulses to suppress the tremors. These electrodes have to be placed extremely carefully and aligned correctly to stimulate the right areas. And because the insertion of the electrodes is also guided by this whole navigation system, that’s now possible. Without these neuro navigation systems, it probably would be a lot more difficult to position them correctly in the first attempt.
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