[Comment on the contribution by Ostertag and Warnke. Neuronavigation].
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The fact that the visualization process has been deferred since MRI and CT scanning have become the imaging standards for today's neurosurgeons has led to the importance of developing a tool for testing and teaching young pediatric neurosurgeons in the future. Navigation and teaching in a virtual reality model seems a sound solution.
Intraoperative neurophysiological mapping and monitoring of eloquent brain areas can be combined with image-guided localisation to enhance the safety and efficacy of surgical procedures in the motor cortex. We designed a new type of cortical electrode which can be repeatedly placed on the cortical surface and allows accurate and reproducible stimulation by means of a navigation pointer. The newly designed device consists of a monopolar electrode contact for direct cortical stimulation, housed in a holder which allows placement, easy removal, and precise repeated placement of a surgical navigation pointer. It can be used for navigation-guided, high-frequency anodal monopolar cortical stimulation (MCS) for the mapping of eloquent cortex, and for monitoring of motor pathways. While the cortex is stimulated, compound muscle action potentials (CMAP) are recorded from muscles of the contralateral extremities and are assessed both qualitatively and quantitatively. When the device is used in combination with intraoperative navigation, the stimulation sites may optionally be registered or displayed on the system monitor. This allows repeated pinpointing and obviates the need for strip or grid electrodes in the operative field; although such electrodes may be useful for continuous monitoring, they often are in the surgeon's way. In addition, the primary and supplementary motor cortex can be mapped by determining the location of the sites of stimulation on surface-projected images of the cerebral cortex.
INTRODUCTION: A cadaveric study was undertaken to investigate the usefulness and reliability of a microscope based navigation system (NS) for skull base surgery. MATERIAL AND METHODS: CT-scans (1 mm slices) were performed in 10 fixed cadaver heads after implantation of fiducials. There upon, various skull base dissections were undertaken: transethmoidal-transsphenoidal approach to sella and clivus, retrosigmoidal approach to the internal auditory canal (IAC) and to the posterior semicircular canal (PSCC). The navigated dissections were performed with the MKM, a microscope based navigation system of Carl Zeiss (Oberkochen, Germany). RESULTS: The registration assessment by the NS yielded a mean deviation of 0.23 mm +/- 0.03 mm (mean +/- SD, n = 7, range 0.19 to 0.27 mm). The real anatomical deviation during dissection was 0.67 mm +/- 0.2 mm for navigation to the IAC and 0.71 mm +/- 0.37 mm to the PSCC. This accuracy was achieved with three fiducials (4 x 1 mm titanium screws) arranged as a triangle (side length 4-6 cm) nearby the surgical field. Navigation data on current position, direction and distance to a target structure were helpful in the transethmoidal-transsphenoidal approach to the clivus, as well as for accessing deep seated structures (C1-C2 junction, petrous bone tip). The contouring feature was beneficial for identifying structures embedded in the bone. However, due to inaccurate 3-D modelling this feature has a restricted reliability. DISCUSSION: Our cadaveric skull base study has shown that the MKM is a reliable tool with high anatomical accuracy and usefulness of most navigation features. However, in order to effectively and reliably use any NS the surgeon must be familiar with its potential features and limitations as is demonstrated in this study.
OBJECTIVE: Frameless stereotactic navigation devices require preoperative application of skin markers (SM) and planning radiography, which limits their even wider use. Therefore, we prospectively studied the applicability and accuracy of anatomic "natural" markers (NM) for image registration. METHODS: The accuracy of NM was evaluated in 26 patients operated on in the supine (n=24) or sitting (n=2) position, either by comparison to our standard navigation protocol using SM and planning radiography or by the deviation of anatomic landmarks using a routine diagnostic radiograph. In 21 cases, NM were compared to SM with planning radiography (computed tomography, or CT, in nine cases and magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI, in 12). The root mean square error (RMSE) of the registered volume was calculated by the Philips EasyGuide Neuro frameless stereotactic navigation system and compared between the two registration modalities. RESULTS: The mean RMSE was 3.2 mm+/-1.0 mm standard deviation using NM vs 2.9+/-1.0 mm using self-adhesive SM (P=0.13, Student's t-test). Computed tomography was slightly more accurate than MRI planning (mean RMSE 3.2 mm vs 3.3 mm). In three cases, diagnostic radiography (MRI) was used with a mean RMSE of 5.3 mm but acceptable intraoperative landmark correlation. CONCLUSION: Our pilot study demonstrates insignificant loss of registration accuracy using NM compared to SM. Additionally, the radiologic planning investigation and accuracy loss due to SM movement may be avoided.
A new device was invented as an adjunct for computed tomography (CT)-guided stereotaxic or open neurosurgery. It is composed of a multijoint three-dimensional digitizer (sensor arm) and a microcomputer, which indicates the place of the sensor arm tip on preoperative CT images. Computed tomography scan is performed preoperatively with three markers placed on the nasion and ears. At surgery, after fixing the patient's head and the sensor arm, sampling of the standard points was done to translate the position of the tip of the sensor arm onto the CT images displayed on a computer screen. In this way positional data from conventional preoperative CT scan can be directly transferred into the surgical field. This system has the unique feature of introducing CT-guided stereotaxis into conventional open neurosurgery.
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Centrally active drugs are often hard to administer because of the blood brain barrier, and frequently high systemic doses are required to reach sufficient brain parenchyma concentrations, since these drugs are, additionally, diluted in the total blood volume. Moreover, topical administration via the systemic route is not possible. We here propose a technique for the local, quantitative deposition of active substances at defined intracerebral targets, e.g. the thalamic nuclei. We used a long micropipette and stereotactically advanced it to the desired coordinates under electrophysiological control. The pipette acted as both an electrode for intracerebral recordings and as a transportation means for the drug. The amplitude of intracerebral evoked potentials relayed by the thalamic nucleus to the sensorimotor cortex indicated the distance between the pipette tip and the neurons of the targeted nucleus. Data were obtained from anesthetized rats, where the micropipette was advanced towards the nucleus ventralis posterolateralis (VPL) during contralateral electrical forepaw stimulation and intracerebral recording of somatosensory evoked potentials. Within the VPL we either injected lidocaine or kainic acid, both resulting in an attenuation of the intracerebral as well as the cortical evoked potentials. This proposed tool may be useful for functional investigations of deep brain structures.
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The term computer aided surgery (CAS) is now mainly used for an intraoperative navigation within the body combining a 3D-digitizer with preoperative CT/MR-imaging. This method has become indispensable in neurosurgery for the removal of deep-seated and/or critically located intracranial tumors and vascular malformations. Also ENT surgery within the paranasal sinuses and setting of pedicle screws in orthopedic surgery profit greatly from the high targeting precision of CAS. And still a growing number of surgical disciplines are employing this method. Today infrared-optical 3D-digitizers are state of the art, but electromagnetic spatial digitizing using novel, miniature localizers is promising, too. The results of our CAS study 1994-mid-1997 with 50 patients suffering from small intracranial lesions are presented.
The effectiveness of functional magnetic resonance imaging (f-MRI)-controlled and navigator-guided brain surgery for a patient with a recurrent astrocytoma is demonstrated. Preoperative f-MRI was performed in order to identify the motor area and ensure that the tumour was in the left prefrontal area. A more aggressive operation was planned for the recurrent tumour. The f-MRI data were input to the MKM navigation system and during the operation the contours of the tumour and motor area were visualised b y the microscope of the navigation system. The tumour and surrounding gliotic brain tissue were removed completely. The diagnosis was a grade III astrocytoma. The combination of the navigation system and f-MRI was useful for preoperative design of the surgical strategy, and tumour orientation during the operation, enabling aggressive surgery to be performed without functional deficits ensuing.
This report describes a neurosurgical navigational system using a newly-designed articulated arm with an interchangeable probe shaped like a bayonet, which can be used in deep structures through narrow openings. This system enables three-dimensional integration of magnetic resonance and computed tomographical images, and thereby yields computer graphic composites of the scalp, brain, skull, and vessels. The arm was used in 15 patients during open brain surgery, including 5 skull base procedures. This system was useful for comprehension of skull base anatomy and could conveniently be used in microscopic neurosurgical procedures without limiting the operative field.
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OBJECTIVE: Computer-assisted frameless navigation techniques are used in many centers for intracranial neurosurgical procedures. In this study, we assessed the accuracy and the clinical usefulness of a frameless system based on the optical digitizer in a variety of intracranial procedures. METHODS: The optical digitizer (StealthStation, Sofamor Danek, Memphis, TN) was used to perform 170 neurosurgical operations. Its accuracy was judged before and after each operation by comparing the computer-estimated error with the real estimated error measured on the patient's anatomy. Several objective factors were evaluated to assess the clinical usefulness of the optical digitizer. For craniotomies, the intraoperative extent of resection based on computer-generated images was compared with that on postoperative images, and the length of hospital stay of patients undergoing frameless procedures was compared with that of patients undergoing conventional procedures. For needle biopsies, clinical usefulness was based on the rate of success in establishing a histological diagnosis. RESULTS: The optical digitizer was accurate to within 2 mm for all procedures. The computer-estimated error was not significantly different from the real estimated error. The intraoperative extent of resection was accurate in 58 of 60 tumor resection patients, as confirmed on postoperative images. Patients undergoing frameless procedures had a significantly shorter hospital stay than those undergoing conventional procedures (7.5 +/- 1 versus 10.8 +/- 1.3 d, P < 0.05). All biopsies were diagnostic. CONCLUSION: The optical digitizer is an accurate frameless device that offers clinical benefits. These include precise surgical resection, decreased hospitalization time, and accurate tissue diagnosis.