NousNav is developing technology and providing training for sustainable neurosurgical capacity building in low- and middle-income countries around the globe. Central to this mission is the creation of affordable, off-the-shelf and open-source technology for state-of-the-art neurosurgery.
NousNav will have a direct impact on patient care in global neurosurgery. Neuronavigation plays a key role in neurosurgical operations in which accurate localization of the lesion and its critical surrounding structures are essential. By providing neurosurgeons in resource-limited settings tools to perform better surgeries and deal with more difficult cases, the platform will help address the growing surgical burden of potentially treatable brain illness.
NousNav will have an impact on community building through its training activities. The organization of training events for neurosurgeons and the perioperative workforce will foster the creation of a global community of users. NousNav training activities will help develop the local surgical workforce in image-guided therapy.
The open source approach of NousNav will enable research collaborations on neuronavigation technology and facilitate new contributions to the platform by members of the NousNav community.
Millions of people around the world suffer from brain illnesses which can be surgically treated such as hydrocephalus, infections, trauma, congenital malformations, epilepsy, brain tumors, and strokes. Advances in brain imaging have radically changed brain surgery in high-income countries and greatly improved patient outcomes. CT and MRI imaging allow three-dimensional visualization of individual patient anatomy, which is used in pre-surgical planning and to guide intraoperative steps during surgery. This brain imaging is linked to the surgical field through neuronavigation, giving neurosurgeons tools to perform more accurate surgeries. Yet, the prohibitively high costs associated with these technologies means these advances are still inaccessible for many populations outside of high-income countries.
This photo captures Dr. Golby's colleague, Dr. Abel Gizaw, using the system for the first time at Black Lion Hospital in Addis Ababa. Dr. Gizaw had used navigation during part of his training in India, but had never been able to benefit from this in his own practice or teaching. He was an enthusiastic partner able to take over the introductory sessions Dr. Golby was leading during the annual meeting of the Ethiopian neurosurgical society.
