Neuronavigator Integration

The ability to visualize  estimates of the sources of neurophysiological activity now allows us to compare these results with the individual's structural MR image.  EGI's GeoSource software, currently For Research Use Only, allows the physician and researcher to examine the possible location of seizures and other epileptiform brain activity within an MRI view of brain tissues, either an atlas MRI or the patient's own MRI.

Currently, work that is underway at the University of Oregon NeuroInformatics Center and EGI's Cerebral Data Systems division is applying high-performance computing to achieve automated segmentation of head tissues and extraction of the folded cortical surface.

Given the increasing demand from neurosurgeons to see the EEG source results within a neuronavigator program, such as Medtronic's StealthStation, GeoMedica scientists and engineers are developing data exchange protocols and new visualization options to register and overlay the dEEG imaging results with the patient's anatomical data within the StealthStation software.

New capabilities in StealthStation include tractography from diffusion tensor imaging (right). An important research question is whether functional connectivity, such as estimated through dEEG source coherence, will provide convergent information with anatomical connectivity, such as through tractography, in guiding neurosurgical decisions.

EGI's leadership in developing neuroimaging software that integrates with current structural methods is creating new opportuninties for researchers, scientists and physicians. Careful research integrating functional information with structural displays will provide multimodal perspectives for the neurosurgeon on the functional integrity of brain pathways in each patient.