Brain Surgery News and Research

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UK cancer patients use Brainlab Mixed Reality Viewer to visualize, understand their treatment

For the first time, patients in the UK will have access to Brainlab Mixed Reality Viewer as part of their cancer treatment; a new way for physicians to provide visualization of treatment to their patients, actively involving them in their own cancer care.

13 Feb 2020

Novel biomaterial shows promise in treating cerebral aneurysms

Tim Becker, an associate professor of practice in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Northern Arizona University, is developing a polypropylene glycol-based biomaterial called PPODA-QT, which is similar to body tissue, to treat aneurysms in the brain and improve outcomes for stroke and potential stroke patients.

9 Jan 2020

Research could pave way for regenerative TBI-IV therapy

A team of researchers from the University of Georgia's Regenerative Bioscience Center has found that neural exosomes- "cargo" molecules within the nervous system that carry messages to the brain- can minimize or even avert progression of traumatic brain injury when used as part of a new cell-to-cell messaging technology.

12 Dec 2019

Scientists identify the origin and evolution of famous concept devised in neurobiology

Eye-opening research by neurosurgeons from Barrow Neurological Institute and Montreal Neurological Institute has produced the foremost investigation of the origin and evolution of perhaps the most famous concept devised in neurobiology--the homunculus of neurosurgeon Wilder Penfield.

9 Dec 2019

Liquid biopsy can predict prognosis in patients with glioblastoma

A blood test that measures the amount of cell-free DNA (cfDNA) in the bloodstream - called a liquid biopsy - correlates with how patients will progress after they are diagnosed with glioblastoma (GBM), the deadliest and most common primary brain tumor in adults.

30 Oct 2019

Fluorescent tags help diagnose and monitor brain gliomas more effectively

A new study published online in the journal eBioMedicine on October 15, 2019, describes the use of an orally ingested agent called 5-aminolevulinic acid (5-ALA) to confirm the diagnosis of the aggressive brain tumor called glioma.

16 Oct 2019

Antibiotic-impregnated shunt could prevent hydrocephalus infections, save millions

A new study reported that using shunt tubing impregnated with two common antibiotics is effective in preventing infection after brain surgery to relieve hydrocephalus. This simple but highly effective practice could save millions of pounds, prevent devastating brain damage, and shorten hospital stay and antibiotic use duration.

13 Sep 2019

UH associate professor awarded NIH grant to test new treatment for epilepsy patients

University of Houston associate professor of biomedical engineering Nuri Ince, who pioneered a dramatic decrease in the time it takes to detect the seizure onset zone in the brain, has been awarded $2.3 million by the National Institutes of Health to expand his testing in a large number of adult and pediatric epilepsy cases.

10 Sep 2019

Study: Blocking inflammatory pathway could prevent melanoma brain metastasis

Brain metastases are among the deadliest tumor metastases, with a median survival period of less than one year, and the incidence of brain metastasis is rising.

20 Aug 2019

Transradial surgery appears effective for many neuroendovascular procedures

For years cardiologists have threaded hair-like surgical instruments through arteries in the wrist, as an access point to perform procedures on the heart.

19 Jul 2019

Rush University Medical Center offers new FDA-approved treatment for brain aneurysms

Rush University Medical Center is offering a newly FDA-approved treatment for brain aneurysms that is safer for patients and has a shorter recovery period than other treatments.

12 Jul 2019

UTA researcher awarded grant to purchase equipment that determines severity of brain injuries

It is often easy to tell when a person has suffered a severe traumatic brain injury, but it is much more difficult to detect and determine the amount of brain damage a person has suffered when the injury is mild.

24 May 2019

Could deep brain stimulation help resolve the opioid epidemic?

Researchers have developed an implant that has shown promise for reducing addiction rates. However, there are major ethical and financial concerns, which we have tried to cover in this news story.

9 May 2019

First-of-its-kind human trial of new brain reading device to help speech and movement

The Stentrode™ is a device that is placed inside a blood vessel of the brain located in an area that controls movement (motor cortex). It is the only investigational technology of its kind that does not require open brain surgery.

8 Apr 2019

Minimally invasive procedure helps surgeons to pinpoint epilepsy patients for brain surgery

A minimally invasive procedure to determine whether patients with drug-resistant epilepsy are candidates for brain surgery is safer, more efficient, and leads to better outcomes than the traditional method, according to new research by The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston.

8 Mar 2019

Scientists turn brain waves into speech using AI

Scientists have figured out how to translate brain waves into speech using Artificial Intelligence (AI). The results of this latest breakthrough were published in the latest issue of Scientific Reports.

31 Jan 2019

Columbia neuroengineers create new system to translate thoughts into speech

In a scientific first, Columbia neuroengineers have created a system that translates thought into intelligible, recognizable speech. By monitoring someone's brain activity, the technology can reconstruct the words a person hears with unprecedented clarity.

29 Jan 2019

New, scalpel-free treatment for reducing Parkinson's tremor gets FDA approval

The federal Food and Drug Administration has approved a new, scalpel-free treatment for tremor in patients with medication-resistant Parkinson's disease.

15 Jan 2019

Alzheimer's could possibly be spread via contaminated neurosurgery

Researchers have found that surgical instruments used for neurosurgery could get contaminated by the altered brain proteins that are seen in Alzheimer’s disease. These instruments are capable of spreading the condition if not treated or decontaminated properly before reuse. The study results were published in the latest issue of the journal Nature.

14 Dec 2018

Study provides new insights into molecular mechanisms underlying role of amyloid in Alzheimer's disease

A UCL-led study has confirmed that some vials of a hormone used in discontinued medical treatments contained seeds of a protein implicated in Alzheimer's disease, and are able to seed amyloid pathology in mice.s