The "STARS-CASCADE" Study: Virtual Reality Simulation as a New Training Approach in Vascular Neurosurgery.

Objective: Surgical clipping has become a relatively rare procedure in comparison to endovascular exclusion of cerebral aneurysms. Consequently, there is a declining number of cases where young neurosurgeons can practice clipping. For this reason, we investigated the application of a new 3-dimensional (3D) simulation and rehearsal device, Surgical Theater, in vascular neurosurgery.

Brain Tectal Tumors: A Flexible Approach.

Background And Importance: Mesencephalic tectal gliomas represent a subset of midbrain tumors, which are more frequent in children than in adults. They usually become symptomatic when causing hydrocephalus by occluding the aqueduct. Because of their slow progression, due to their benign histology, they are characterized by a relatively good prognosis, although hydrocephalus might jeopardize patients' prognosis.

USim: A New Device and App for Case-Specific, Intraoperative Ultrasound Simulation and Rehearsal in Neurosurgery. A Preliminary Study.

Background: Intraoperative ultrasound (iUS) is an excellent aid for neurosurgeons to perform better and safer operations thanks to real time, continuous, and high-quality intraoperative visualization.

Objective: To develop an innovative training method to teach how to perform iUS in neurosurgery.

Methods: Patients undergoing surgery for different brain or spine lesions were iUS scanned (before opening the dura) in order to arrange a collection of 3-dimensional, US images; this set of data was matched and paired to preoperatively acquired magnetic resonance images in order to create a library of neurosurgical cases to be studied offline for training and rehearsal purposes.