A technique for interactive image-guided neurosurgical intervention in primary brain tumors.

Interactive image-guided neurosurgical techniques allow safer and more complete cytoreduction of gliomas. This is most significant for low-grade tumors, whose configurations and margins are perhaps better appreciated by reference to registered MR images rather than by reliance on direct visualization using microscopic illumination. Spatially registered electro-physiologic recordings of intraoperative cortical stimulation to map language and motor function can increase the margin of safety for performing radical resections. By individualizing approaches and optimizing results, these technologies promise a new degree of standardization of outcome after resective surgery for all glial tumors.