Treatments related to brain surgeries in India

The brain controls and coordinates conscious and unconscious body functions, as well as 'higher' functions such as memory, learning and thinking. Like any other part of the body, it is susceptible to bleeding, infection, trauma and other forms of damage.

This damage or alteration in brain function sometimes requires brain surgery (neurosurgery) to diagnose or treat these problems. The main types of brain conditions that may require brain surgery include: Alterations of the brain tissue – such as brain cancer, infections and swelling (oedema); Alterations in brain blood flow – such as subdural haematoma, subarachnoid haemorrhage and intraventricular bleed; and, Alteration in cerebrospinal fluid – such as infection or hydrocephalus. (www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au)

Deep Brain Stimulation

Deep brain stimulation is most often offered to people with advanced Parkinson's disease who have unstable medication responses. DBS can stabilize medication fluctuations, reduce or halt involuntary movements (dyskinesias), reduce tremor, reduce rigidity, and improve slowing of movement.DBS is effective in controlling erratic and fluctuating responses to medication for controlling dyskinesias that don't improve with medication adjustments.

M6 Cyberknife

The next generation of CyberKnife - M6 is highly precise when compared to the earlier ones used in India as this offers some of the exceptional features and delivers a maximum dose of radiation directly to the tumor from many different angles with sub-millimeter precision for the higher success rates. The CyberKnife radiation surgery offers multiple benefits compared to conventional radiation treatments and surgery.

3D Printing

Application of 3D printing has seen a swift rise in the field of medical interventions and diagnosis and the artificial intelligence is transforming the industry. The technology helps the surgeon to exactly figure out the anatomy of the organ making it easy for better diagnostics and understanding. In case of cranial implants where the shapes are irregular and almost unimaginable, this model provides standardization.

Neuro Navigation Technique

Neuronavigation is recognized as the next evolutionary step of stereotactic surgery. In its infancy the purpose of this technology was to create a mathematical model describing a proposed coordinate system for the space within a closed structure, e.g., the skull. This "fiducial spatial coordinate system" uses fiducial markers as a reference to describe with high accuracy the position of specific structures within this arbitrarily defined space. (Writer is Director (Neurosurgery), Agrim Institute for Neuro Sciences, Artemis Hospital, Gurgaon)