From the April 2018 issue of HealthCare Business News magazine

The future of DBS
As imaging technology improves, so will our ability to perform DBS surgery. I believe the OmniTom, the latest upgrade to the CereTom, will make lead placement even more precise. The 24-bit accuracy should reduce the fiducials by a fraction of a millimeter while increasing the lead placement accuracy also by a fraction of a millimeter. That might not seem like a lot, but that increase in precision may drop the reposition rate from 15 percent to 1 percent.

A health care system with tightening reimbursements and a heightened focus on patient experience, combined with a growing number of patients who could benefit from DBS surgery, means that hospitals will have to rethink how they perform the procedure in order to meet that need. To do this in a financially viable way, hospitals will need to adopt a new approach to the procedure that is image-based. It’s not just the best path forward. It’s the only path forward.
About the author: David VanSickle, M.D., Ph.D., FAANS, joined South Denver Neurosurgery in 2007 and is board certified by the American Board of Neurological Surgery. After earning a master’s and doctorate in bioengineering, Dr. VanSickle went on to pursue a career in neurosurgery. He earned his medical degree from the University of Pittsburgh and completed a six-year neurosurgery residency at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center. While there, he was named surgical intern of the year and later the neurosurgery resident of the year. He also patented a new device to help facilitate epilepsy surgery. Dr. VanSickle has authored and co-authored numerous peer-reviewed journal articles and has given multiple presentations. He is a member of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS), Congress of Neurological Surgeons (CNS) and the American Medical Association (AMA).

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