Researchers, clinicians and engineers from King’s College London, University College London and the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery are pioneering a software system called EpiNav developed in hopes of making brain surgery safer and easier.

To treat epilepsy with surgery, doctors first need to find out exactly where the seizures are coming from. This involves a complex procedure that implanting electrodes into the brain to measure electrical activity. These electrodes need to be positioned into the brain without damaging any vital areas, like those that control motor functions, which affect speech, vision, and movement.

EpiNav (which stands for epilepsy navigation) is now being used as the primary tool for surgery planning at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery. However, the team are taking this a step further and hope to incorporate the use of a robotic guidance system, currently under a randomised control trial.

The team aspires for EpiNav to be integrated into operating theatres in the UK, and hopes to have even wider impact on other areas of neurosurgery like brain tumors and Parkinson’s disease.

Based on a report from King’s College London.