Touch Panel Intraoperative Brain Function Assessment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Intraoperative language mapping during awake craniotomy is challenging due to the limitations of traditional tasks like number counting and visual object naming, which are simple but fail to elicit complex responses representative of everyday behavior, limiting the identification of critical language areas.
Innovation Solution
A system and method using a touch panel device for intraoperative assessment of brain function by communicating tasks to patients and obtaining input during brain stimulation, allowing for more comprehensive and ecologically valid assessments of brain function by determining performance and functional measures associated with specific brain regions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If traditional simple tasks (number counting, visual object naming) are used for intraoperative brain mapping, then the simplicity and speed of detection is improved, but the ecological validity and cognitive demand are worsened
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transforms the response modality parameter from verbal to tactile/visual by using touch panel interactions. This allows patients to perform cognitively demanding tasks (improving ecological validity) while maintaining ease of administration through a standardized digital interface (preserving simplicity). The touch panel captures precise spatial and temporal data that quantifies cognitive function more reliably than traditional verbal responses.
2Productivity
If traditional verbal tasks are used for language mapping, then the speed of detection is improved, but the ability to assess complex cognitive functions is worsened
Solution Approach 1:
The touch panel serves as an intermediary device that translates complex cognitive responses into quantifiable digital data. Patients interact with the touch panel using tactile and visual modalities that can capture nuanced cognitive processing (improving measurement precision), while the system automatically records and analyzes responses at high speed (maintaining productivity). The intermediary device bridges the gap between complex cognitive assessment and rapid data collection.
3Ease of operation
If simple intraoperative tasks are used, then the ease of administration is improved, but the ability to identify critical language areas with high precision is worsened
Solution Approach 1:
The system provides real-time feedback by displaying the patient's touch panel responses and derived cognitive measures on a monitor during the procedure. This allows the surgical team to immediately observe the effects of cortical stimulation on cognitive function (improving brain mapping precision), while the automated feedback system reduces the administrative burden on clinicians (maintaining ease of operation). The feedback loop enables precise identification of language areas through objective, quantifiable measures.
Data Source
AI summary
Systems and methods are provided for performing an intraoperative assessment of brain function based on input that is obtained using a touch panel device, in response to a task, and in the presence of an intervention that is applied to a selected region of the brain. The intervention may be stimulation of the selected region of the brain, such as direct cortical stimulation. In some embodiments, a measure is determined based on the input received from the touch panel. The measure may be a performance measure, related to the performance of the task, and/or a functional measure, associated with an inferred function of the selected region of the brain. In some embodiments, an image of the brain that is registered to an intraoperative reference frame may be annotated or otherwise modified within the selected region based on the measure.