Neurosurgery by Multichannel Electrophysiology, 3D Navigation, and Customized Database

: Accuracy is a main issue in intracranial surgeries like e.g. the implantation of deep brain stimulators. Surgeries are planned on the basis of pre-operative CT-or MR-scans, thus neglecting the intra-operative brainshift. Microelectrode recordings are performed in order to enhance the accuracy. We present an all-in-one solution to assist stereotactic neurosurgeons: Our system records and analysis electrophysiological signals from 32 channels intra-operatively in realtime and presents them related to anatomical structures. Our hardware consists of DSP technology integrated into a standard PC. We wrote our own visualization and analysis software. So far, only few experienced specialists perform functional neurosurgery. By introducing a customized database into our system, we seek to shorten the "experience gap" between specialists and novices. The database holds electrophysiological signals and describing features related to an anatomical coordinate system, thus presenting the novice what he has to expect in a certain brain region.