Methods
Experimental ablation involves the drilling of holes in the skull of an animal and inserting an electrode or a small tube called a cannula into the brain using a stereotaxic apparatus. A brain lesion can be created by conducting electricity through the electrode which damages the targeted area of the brain. likewise, chemicals can be inserted in the cannula which could possibly damages the area of interest. By comparing the prior behavior of the animal to after the lesion, the researcher can predict the function of damaged brain segment. Recently, lasers have been shown to be effective in ablation of both cerebral and cerebellar tissue. A laser technology called MRI-guided laser ablation, for example, allows great precision in location and size of the lesion and the causes little to no thermal damage to adjacent tissue. The Texas Children's Hospital is one of the first to use this MRI guided method to destroy and treat brain lesions effectively and precisely. A prime example is a patient at this hospital who now no longer undergoes frequent seizures because of the success of this treatment. MRI-guided laser ablation is also used for ablating brain, prostate and liver tumors. Heating or freezing are also alternative methods to ablative brain surgery.
Read more about this topic: Ablative Brain Surgery
Famous quotes containing the word methods:
“Commerce is unexpectedly confident and serene, alert, adventurous, and unwearied. It is very natural in its methods withal, far more so than many fantastic enterprises and sentimental experiments, and hence its singular success.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“The greatest part of our faults are more excusable than the methods that are commonly taken to conceal them.”
—François, Duc De La Rochefoucauld (1613–1680)
“We are lonesome animals. We spend all our life trying to be less lonesome. One of our ancient methods is to tell a story begging the listener to say—and to feel—”Yes, that’s the way it is, or at least that’s the way I feel it. You’re not as alone as you thought.””
—John Steinbeck (1902–1968)