Better brain surgery, with flight simulation tech

By News on the Net Israel21c —— Bio and Archives December 19, 2012

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Just as pilots can use flight simulators to practice for difficult missions before setting foot in a plane, now brain surgeons can rehearse challenging microsurgical procedures before making a single incision.

Already in use at US teaching hospitals and soon to be available to practicing neurosurgeons, the Selman Surgical Rehearsal Platform (SRP) neurosurgery simulator generates 3D images from the individual patient’s standard CT and MRI scans. The lifelike preview shows how surgical instruments will interact with the patient’s tissue and how the delicate brain structures will respond. SRP was developed by former Israel Air Force officers Moty Avisar and Alon Geri, who know a thing or two about the life-or-death importance of practicing in a sophisticated simulated environment. Three years in the making, the SRP was launched at the Congress of Neurological Surgeons in October 2012, where it was selected as a “new technology to watch.” Patent approvals have come through for the technique of turning static medical imagery into a dynamic model. More...