Institute of Global Health Innovation

By the winners of the 2014 Student Challenges Competition, Christopher Payne and Hani Marcus 

Brain surgery is challenging surgery. When brain tissue is handled incorrectly, the consequences can be catastrophic. The manoeuvres in brain surgery require dexterity, precision and careful force application, but even the best surgeons have limits. We humans are imprecise and we make mistakes. Robots, on the other hand, can operate beyond the physiological limits of a human. This is a central concept to many surgical robots: the perfect fusion of human and machine.

In brain surgery, the NeuroArm is the finest example of the assistive surgical robot concept. It is a remote-controlled robot that can operate with micro-scale precision. It is also one of the few robots in clinical practice to incorporate haptic-feedback, so that the surgeon can not only see what they are doing, they can also feel what they are doing too. The robot does this by continually sensing the minute tool-tissue forces and relaying these sensations back to the surgeon. There are downsides though. This type of robotic system is large, expensive and is yet to be widely adopted in to clinical practice.

For the 2014 IGHI Student Challenge, we proposed an alternative solution to help surgeons handle brain tissue delicately. Rather than developing new robots, we sought to integrate robotic technology in to existing surgical tools. We developed a smart surgical dissecting device. It can sense the delicate tool-tissue forces and uses a subtle vibration to inform the surgeon if they apply excessive force.

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Read IGHI Student Challenge Competition: Reducing the Forces in Brain Surgery using Smart Surgical Instruments in full

By Sarah Jones and Naomi Radcliffe in support of World Mental Health Day

A recent survey by the WHO found that amongst its member countries, the lifetime risk of mental health illness was between 18 – 36%. [1] Yet the vast majority of people are undiagnosed or not receiving treatment, especially in low-income countries. The World Economic Forum estimates that between 2011–2030, mental health conditions will be responsible for the total loss of $16.2 trillion to the global economy. We can compare this to five other non-communicable diseases – cardiovascular disease, chronic respiratory disease, cancer and diabetes – which together will account for the loss of $30 trillion by 2030. To put these figures into perspective, the total global spending on health in 2009 was only $5.1 trillion. [2]

Rising direct costs are partly due to an ageing population and a greater proportion of individuals over the age of 75 years, which have resulted in more people living with costly conditions such as dementia. [3] We also have higher expectations on the level of care that we should receive. In high-income countries, this translates into demand for new and expensive treatments and drugs that may only elicit marginal benefits in comparison to existing treatments. [4] (more…)

Read How Innovation Can Help To Reduce the Future Economic Burden of Mental Health Disease in full