Chapter 12
Intra-operative Measurement of Brain
Deformation
Sarah Frisken, Prashin Unadkat, Xiaochen Yang, Michael I. Miga,
and Alexandra J. Golby
12.1 Introduction
For most patients, surgery is the first step for treating brain tumours. Many studies
have shown that the amount of tumour removed, known as the extent of resection,
is strongly correlated with both freedom from progression and survival [1–7].
However, brain tumours vary significantly from one patient to the next, may be hard
to distinguish from surrounding healthy brain tissue, often infiltrate surrounding
functional brain, and may be intimately involved with eloquent cortex and white
matter tracts. Thus, complete resection is challenging and not always prudent.
During the past few decades, two important advancements have provided
neurosurgeons with tools to help them maximise the extent of resection while
avoiding damage to surrounding brain tissue (Fig. 12.1). The first is advanced 3D
imaging, particularly, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), which provides highresolution anatomical images that can differentiate between healthy tissue and
S. Frisken ()
Department of Radiology, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
e-mail: sfrisken@bwh.harvard.edu
P. Unadkat
Department of Radiology & Neurosurgery, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
X. Yang
Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Vanderbilt University, Nashville,
TN, USA
M. I. Miga
Department of Biomedical Engineering, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
A. J. Golby
Department of Neurosurgery, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School,
Boston, MA, USA
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019
K. Miller (ed.), Biomechanics of the Brain, Biological and Medical Physics,
Biomedical Engineering, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-04996-6_12
303
Intra-operative Measurement of Brain
Deformation
Sarah Frisken, Prashin Unadkat, Xiaochen Yang, Michael I. Miga,
and Alexandra J. Golby
12.1 Introduction
For most patients, surgery is the first step for treating brain tumours. Many studies
have shown that the amount of tumour removed, known as the extent of resection,
is strongly correlated with both freedom from progression and survival [1–7].
However, brain tumours vary significantly from one patient to the next, may be hard
to distinguish from surrounding healthy brain tissue, often infiltrate surrounding
functional brain, and may be intimately involved with eloquent cortex and white
matter tracts. Thus, complete resection is challenging and not always prudent.
During the past few decades, two important advancements have provided
neurosurgeons with tools to help them maximise the extent of resection while
avoiding damage to surrounding brain tissue (Fig. 12.1). The first is advanced 3D
imaging, particularly, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), which provides highresolution anatomical images that can differentiate between healthy tissue and
S. Frisken ()
Department of Radiology, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
e-mail: sfrisken@bwh.harvard.edu
P. Unadkat
Department of Radiology & Neurosurgery, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
X. Yang
Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Vanderbilt University, Nashville,
TN, USA
M. I. Miga
Department of Biomedical Engineering, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
A. J. Golby
Department of Neurosurgery, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School,
Boston, MA, USA
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019
K. Miller (ed.), Biomechanics of the Brain, Biological and Medical Physics,
Biomedical Engineering, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-04996-6_12
303