Creating a Neurosurgery Training Device

The Challenge

Building a reliable and deterministic training device that simulates electrical signals from the human nervous system.

 The Solution

Prototyping a neurosimulator and quickly deploying the final product to help effectively train neurophysiologists.

Active Diagnostics, a surgical monitoring company, has several thousand surgical neuromonitoring recordings stored in a digital format. To develop a simulator to replicate human body signals that occur in surgery, we used our database of rare neurological events.

We chose NI PXI and CompactRIO hardware because of its seamless integration with NI LabVIEW software and quick setup time. To give our trainees the most realistic experience, we wanted to embed the system inside the cavity of a mannequin. This required a unit small enough to fit inside the cavity so it would not overheat. CompactRIO hardware was perfect for our system because of its small size and rugged form factor.

The simulator provides an effective replication of the multitudes of signals that emanate from the human body in the context of high-risk surgeries. Simulator training for neurophysiologists makes surgery safer for patients. NI hardware and software tools provided an easy-to-use solution that allowed us to quickly prototype and reuse much of the code in our final deployment.

– Michael Russell, Active Diagnostics

Learn more about how NI products are used in the medical field.

This article first appeared in the Q2 2010 issue of Instrumentation Newsletter.

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