Optical measurements for guidance during deep brain stimulation surgery

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is an established treatment for Parkinson’s disease and related movement disorders. The success of DBS is highly dependent on electrode location, electrical parameter settings and the surgical procedure. In this paper an overview of the current status of optical measurements for intracerebral guidance performed during DBS implantation is presented. Laser Doppler perfusion monitoring and/or reflection spectroscopy measurements have been done in relation to more than 70 DBS lead implantations towards targets in the deep brain structures. The techniques have also been compared with impedance monitoring, and simulation of the measurement depth has been done with Monte Carlo technique. These studies show that grey-white matter boundaries can be determined with a resolution higher than for both impedance measurements and magnetic reso-