title: Assessment of visual function during brain surgery near the visual cortex by intraoperative optical imaging.
abstract: Several functional brain imaging and mapping techniques have been used for the intraoperative identification and preservation of the sensory, motor, and speech areas of the brain. However, intraoperative monitoring and mapping of the visual function is less frequently performed in the clinical routine. To our knowledge, here we demonstrate for the first time that the individual visual cortex can be mapped to the brain surface using a contact-free optical camera system during brain surgery. Intraoperative optical imaging (IOI) was performed by visual stimulation of both eyes using stobe-light flashes. Images were acquired by a camera mounted to a standard surgical microscope. Activity maps could reproducibly be computed by detecting the blood volume-dependent signal changes of the exposed cortex. To the preliminary experience, the new technique seems to be suitable for mapping the visual function in any neurosurgical intervention that requires exposure of the visual cortex. However, the clinical relevance and reliability of the technique need to be confirmed in further studies.
authors: Department of Neurosurgery, University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, Dresden University of Technology, Dresden, Germany. Stephan.Sobottka@uniklinikum-dresden.de
authors: Stephan B
authors: SB
authors: Sobottka
authors: Tobias
authors: T
authors: Meyer
authors: Matthias
authors: M
authors: Kirsch
authors: Gilfe
authors: G
authors: Reiss
authors: Edmund
authors: E
authors: Koch
authors: Ute
authors: U
authors: Morgenstern
authors: Gabriele
authors: G
authors: Schackert
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001931:Brain Mapping / Q000295:instrumentation*; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery*; D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D005074:Evoked Potentials, Visual; D006801:Humans; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D008853:Microscopy / Q000295:instrumentation; D016343:Monitoring, Intraoperative / Q000295:instrumentation*; D019635:Neurosurgical Procedures / Q000295:instrumentation*; D010775:Photic Stimulation / Q000295:instrumentation; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D025321:Surgery, Computer-Assisted / Q000295:instrumentation*; D014793:Visual Cortex / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000601:surgery*