Functional thermography in neurosurgery

In this research project, we develop basics of functional thermography to differentiate pathological changes of the brain. It is our aim to identify and differentiate pathological areas compared to normal, functional cortical areas during surgical intervention. So, one of the major deficits in neurosurgery, the lack of fast and secure identification of functional cortical areas, shall be overcome.

We use time-resolved thermographic imaging in combination with multivariate data analysis. This special innovative approach enables the application of multivariate methods on thermographic sequences to securely capture even very small signals of neuronal activity. As neuronal activity is always tied to energy metabolism, an acquisition in space and time of temperature and the localization of functional brain areas is possible. Thermographic cameras are characterized by a very high sensitivity. Therefore, already small temperature variations of some 10 mK of the exposed brain can be registered with high resolution. Thermographic image sequences are subject to an online multivariate image analysis and are visualized for the surgeon to intraoperatively localize functional and/or pathological areas and therefore significantly enhance the precision of neurosurgical intervention. Furthermore, we study the differentiation of pathologies of the cortex, especially of circulatory disturbances of ischemia or vascular malformations, as well as the differentiation of cortical tumors compared to normal tissue. The technique can be used without impairment of the patient or rather damage of brain tissue and does not affect the surgical procedure.