India’s First Brain-Mapping Technology Launched At This Hospital; How Will It Help?

New Delhi: In a significant breakthrough, IBS Hospital on Sunday became the first in the country to launch brain-mapping device connectomics/Quicktome.

The introduction of personalised brain mapping will make treatment for brain tumour and other brain surgeries much safer. And the accuracy will negate damage to important brain areas.

Quicktome uses sophisticated algorithms to analyze millions of data points and build a brain map for individual patients from a standard, non-invasive MRI scan, India Today reported.

Doctors can see the maps on computers, which offer anatomical detail not available in a clinical setting. Surgeons will now be able to incorporate advanced brain network data into neurosurgical planning.

“While some of the brain networks alone explain their namesake function entirely, most complex functions are the result of inter-network interactions. Deeper analysis delineates specific sub-networks responsible for specific tasks, comprising subcomponents of often multiple main networks,” IBS Hospital’s Neurosurgeon and Managing Director Dr Sachin Kandhari said.

Dr Kandhari informed brain networks are responsible for everything — from language to movement to thought — and the maps enable surgical decision-making with the goal of protecting and preserving brain function.

“This path-breaking technology is paving the way to not only potentially treat a plethora of ailments pertaining to brain functioning, pre and post operatively, but also to retrieve to its normal functioning,” said Dr Kandhari.

“Such data and the ability, with modern technology, to digitally model a patient’s brain network is already paving the way for incredible advances in neurological and neuropsychiatric care, and leading a charge for personalised brain treatment. Additionally, the brain network maps offer extensive opportunities for advancement in neurosurgery. Neurosurgeons can now operate on a patient with greater certainty about the areas of the brain used for dominant network function. Steps can then be taken to preserve these important functional areas and their connections,” he added.