URJC involved in the design of a tool that improves accuracy in surgical operations

The consortium formed by GMV, the research institute of the University Hospital of La Paz, the Group Modeling and Virtual Reality (GMRV) of UJRC led by Professor Miguel Angel Otaduy and the Canary Foundation for Health Research (FUNCANIS) in collaboration with specialists Pedro Lara and David Macías, have developed a surgical navigation module device intraoperative radiotherapy 'Radiance' to guide interventions breast and application of intraoperative radiotherapy in use for two years.

This research, called 'Naviphy' (Navigation, physical simulation and image in intraoperative procedures), aims to "achieve greater precision in surgery breast, brain and maxillofacial developing algorithms surgical simulation and exploring the use of intraoperative image to evolve the surgical navigation demonstrator has been developed, "explains Carlos Illana, product manager of GMV.

Thus, information technologies and image precision simulate and plan surgeries and specialists to guide the intervention itself, helping to improve the results of it. However, in the field of white tissues such as brain, there is still much work to be done so that surgeons can operate with greater precision and less risk.

Collaboration between health and technologists seems essential to solve the challenges of image-guided surgery. For example, the precise modeling of possible changes expected anatomy of a patient during an operation. The development of algorithms surgical simulation that offer greater control over the process and outcome as well as the interpretation and clinical knowledge to guide and advise research as you evaluate and verify the applicability of developments are needed to meet the challenges of operations guided surgical imaging.

Multidisciplinary team

Among the many people who make up the research team, on the technological side of the project we are as heads Carlos Illana, product manager of GMV, and Miguel Angel Otaduy, research professor of URJC. On the clinical side, José Luis Cebrián, maxillofacial specialist, Marisa Gandia and Carlos Perez, Neurosurgery, and Luis Alberto Glaría for radiotherapy, physicians are responsible for research by the University Hospital of La Paz. By the University Hospital of Gran Canaria, Doctor Negrin, in which working for two years with the navigation system for the treatment of breast tumors developed by GMV collaborate Beatriz Pinar, specialist in radiotherapy, Magali García, a specialist in diagnostic radiology, and Jezebel Fernández, general surgery.

The team that makes up the consortium, from different fields, is working evaluating the use of intraoperative imaging When administering radiation therapy to the tumor bed, once the tumor has been removed and in the operating room itself.

In this first phase of the project is working on "better understand the protocols, workflows and technological equipment which is available in different specialties involved in the project in order to identify the most suitable to develop to achieve success tools project, "says Carlos Illana. Likewise, Miguel Angel Otaduy clarifies that "a detailed knowledge of clinical procedures allow us to identify the needs and challenges of the models and simulation algorithms, and start designing innovative solutions for them."

For his part, Luis Alberto Glaría, Oncologist radiotherapeutic Deputy Hospital Universitario La Paz, the first targets that mark in this first stage of the project are "the standardization of a model of data collection for each type of surgery and explore how validation of the technology to be applied, inform the ethics committee in order to obtain approval for collecting extra a regular surgery and technology assessment developed in the project "information.

Limiting quality intraoperative imaging equipment available to work with surgical navigator in brain structures "is one of the problems that face neurosurgeons," says Marisa Gandia. On the other hand, José Luis Cebrián said that current planning systems focus on bone structures and do not predict the impact of surgery on the soft structures ". Regarding brachytherapy and intraoperative radiation therapy, Luis Alberto Glaria insists that predict the behavior of the organ on which involved will be useful because, until now, "placing applicators radiation, once removed the tumor is performed on an anatomy that has been modified to perform surgery ". Products like Radiance,