Raman spectroscopy enhances surgical precision for pediatric epilepsy treatment

Greater than 50 million folks worldwide reside with epilepsy, with roughly half of them being kids. For about one-third of those sufferers, medicines don’t management their seizures, leaving surgical procedure as the one viable choice for seizure reduction. Seizures in 60 p.c of those drug-resistant circumstances begin in a single a part of the mind, making surgical elimination of the affected tissue the simplest remedy. The most typical reason for focal epilepsy in kids is focal cortical dysplasia (FCD), with kind II being essentially the most prevalent. Nevertheless, precisely figuring out the epileptogenic zone (EZ) throughout surgical procedure might be difficult, which frequently complicates the success of the process.

A brand new research reported in Biophotonics Discovery reveals promise for enhancing surgical precision utilizing Raman spectroscopy, a noninvasive approach that analyzes the chemical composition of tissues. Researchers utilized Raman microspectroscopy to tissue samples from pediatric sufferers identified with FCD kind II. By analyzing the biochemical signatures of particular person cells, the group was in a position to distinguish irregular FCD tissue from wholesome mind cells with outstanding accuracy. The tactic efficiently recognized FCD tissue with 96 p.c accuracy and differentiated between two subtypes of FCD kind II with 92 p.c accuracy.

These findings counsel that Raman spectroscopy, when used throughout surgical procedure with a fiber optics system, may present real-time steerage for surgeons to extra precisely establish and take away solely the affected tissue, leaving wholesome mind areas intact. Along with enhancing surgical outcomes, the approach gives useful insights into the biochemical adjustments which will contribute to the event of epilepsy. Finally, this strategy may improve seizure management and surgical success in kids affected by drug-resistant epilepsy.