Cameras, three-dimensional models and sub-millimeter precision: this is how American research aims to reduce the risks of the most complex neurological operations.
In the heart of the campus of Rochester, Minnesota, a group of researchers from the Mayo Clinic have developed a 3D scanning technology that promises to transform the way neurosurgeons navigate inside the human brainmaking complex operations safer, faster and, above all, incredibly precise.
“This is a milestone,” he says Jaeyun Sung, Ph.D. computational bioengineer at the Mayo Clinic, «we are not just improving what we already know, we are thinking back the way we think about surgical precision.” In laboratories where engineering, computer science and neurosurgery intertwine daily, the group has developed a system that exploits cameras and structured light scanning techniques to create a highly detailed three-dimensional model of the patient’s head, including facial features and the surgical frame used to keep it immobile during surgery.
Once generated, this model is not an end in itself: it comes fused with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or computed tomography (CT) imagescreating a integrated space map which guides the surgeon to the anatomical target with astonishing precision, less than a millimeter. «In our pilot study, we achieved an average accuracy of 0.14 millimeterscompared to approximately 0.20 millimetersthat are obtained with conventional CT-based techniques”, he explains Kendall Lee, M.D., Ph.D.a neurosurgeon who oversaw the clinical integration of the technology. “It seems like a tiny difference – about the thickness of a pencil tip – but in neurosurgery, that fraction can be the difference between success and neurological complications.”
What changes for patients
There are many potential applications: from deep brain stimulation for movement disordersa internal tissue biopsiesuntil drainage of deep lesions. Any procedure that requires achieving precise coordinates in the brain will benefit from increased safety and reliability. In addition, compared to CT-based techniques, the new 3D scanning does not require any exposure to X-raysan important advantage especially for fragile patients or for multiple operations. “Imagine being able to use precision instruments comparable to those of aerospace engineering, inside the human body,” says Sharaf. «It’s a bit like going from an old paper navigator to a dynamic GPS systemwhich updates and guides in real time.”
A look at the future
Although the initial results are promising, the team does not stop: the goal is now integrate automation and artificial intelligence to make technology faster and more versatile, and initiate larger clinical trials to confirm effectiveness on a larger scale. «We are thinking about systems that, one day, could be used with simple mobile tools, even with algorithms that involve small shifts in the brain during the surgery,” adds Sung. «It is a step towards more intuitive, safer and more humane surgery». As often happens in great technological revolutions, the real challenge is not just inventing something newbut integrate that technology into daily clinical practice so that every patient, wherever they are, can benefit from it. And this new 3D scan might just be the next step in that direction.
