Laser Induced Interstitial Thermotherapy

Basic concepts such as the optical and thermal properties of tissue, the various types of tissue ablation, and optical breakdown and its related effects are treated in detail. Special attention is given to mathematical tools (Monte Carlo simulations, the Kubelka—Munk theory etc.) and approved techniques (photodynamic therapy, laser-induced interstitial thermotherapy etc.). The part on applications reviews clinically relevant methods in modern medicine using the latest references. The last chapter covers today’s standards of laser safety, with a careful selection of essential guidelines published by the Laser Institute of America. With numerous research photographs, illustrations, tables and comprehensive summaries.

​This book serves as a foundation for MRI guided laser interstitial thermal therapy (LITT) across neurosurgical diseases. It provides state-of-the-art information on the latest indications and results for LITT in CNS applications, as well as prerequisite historical perspective and technical fundamentals. Written by experts in the field, the text reviews the historical development of LITT, the technical and technological components required to perform LITT, its indications and contraindications, areas that still require investigation, LITT complications, and challenges to starting up LITT within one’s practice. As early adopters of the technology, the authors provide sage advice that reflects the initial learning curves of many of the users. The book then concludes with a practical guide to starting up a LITT practice in the current medical socioeconomic environment. Laser Interstitial Thermal Therapy in Neurosurgery is a guide that will allow all neurosurgeons interested in LITT to successfully adopt the technology and incorporate its use seamlessly, safely and appropriately into their individual practices.

The past three decades have been marked with huge enthusiasm from scientists and professionals in an effort to find a cure for glioma disease. Methods to confirm the kinds and grades of glioma have taken a path from classical macro- to microscopic pathohystological confirmation of tumors, through morphological-histological, molecular, and genetic diagnosis. Surgically, progress was made possible with the development and use of technological aids, for example neuronavigation, cortical mapping, electrocorticography, neuromonitoring, functional and intraoperative MRI, magnetoencephalography, etc. Great hope was placed on the extension of tumor resection and popular supratotal resection. Significant progress has been made generally in glioma treatment with the use of modern radiotherapy and new chemotherapeutics. What do we want to see for the future? By way of stem cells, a specific medicine will be produced, individualized for the particular patient, and by using a microcapsule it will be implanted into the brain zone affected by the tumor by way of robot surgery and injection needle. This is not at all an unrealistic expectation in the next decade or two.

This is a multi-specialty book on the diagnosis, evaluation, and treatment of CNS metastases of the brain and spine. Written by renowned experts in their fields, the book covers essential contemporary topics in CNS metastases care. The book is divided into seven parts that begin with chapters that cover the fundamental biology of disease so that subsequent chapters on imaging, diagnosis, treatment, and palliation can be properly contextualized. This text also provides a framework for understanding the biology of radiation therapy so that radiation treatment options of the brain and spine can be more fully understood. New medications and technologies are reviewed from the perspective of maximizing efficacy and minimizing toxicity, independently and as combinatorial therapy. Central Nervous System Metastases: Diagnosis and Treatment serves as a practical reference for health care providers and trainees. It provides the comprehensive, detailed perspective required to provide holistic care to patients with metastatic disease to the brain and spine.

In the last few years, the development of new technologies in the medical field has allowed procedures and improved surgical techniques to be performed, which until recently would have been unthinkable.Modern neurosurgery is forever tied to technological progress: the development of robotics and robotic-assisted surgery; enhanced visualization, perfusion, and function monitoring in vascular surgery; new techniques of bone reconstruction; new cerebral imaging tools; and alternative treatments such as laser interstitial thermal therapy or immunotherapy for tumors. This book is designed to be a comprehensive introduction to these new developments and to their application in clinical practice. We have tried to provide a unique background and insights to coherently present these new technologies.