Wide varieties of medical procedures are used for the brain. These tools aim to diagnose illnesses, study the maturation of the brain and to treat certain conditions. Currently, some of them are mainly used in medical research, but these methods may become clinical tools of the future. The last two decades have been a time of intense advancement in the field of medical procedure of the brain. New neuroimaging methods have been built, and the field of neurosurgery has moved from open surgeries to minimally invasive surgeries. Frequently, several different methods are combined to help a patient. For example, neuroimaging is often used prior to operating on the brain.
Neurosurgery
According to the Center for Neurological Disorders PA, neurological surgery is diagnosing and treating disorders of the nervous system, including the brain, spinal cord and nerves. Some of the surgeries are performed to treat conditions that have resulted from accidents. Others are treating patients with central nervous system tumors. Neurosurgery can be applied to increase the blood flow to the brain and spinal cord in patients with a threatening stroke. Neurosurgery is also used to treat pain symptoms.
Neuroimaging
Brain imaging uses different techniques to visualize the function or structure of the brain. Such methods as magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI, can be applied to get a 3-D image of the brain's soft tissue that is not affected by bones, according to RadiologyInfo.org. This allows doctors to localize a brain tumor, or to find out how a certain illness, such as Alzheimer's, has progressed. Functional imaging methods such as functional MRI, or fMRI, can be used to study what brain areas are active when the person is performing a certain task. Although functional imaging has great potential for medical use, these methods are still mainly used as research tools by scientists.
Electroencephalography
Electroencephalography, or EEG, studies the electrical activation of the brain. This activity is mainly caused by a large group of neurons that are active simultaneously. EEG is also affected by eye movements and muscle activity. EEG is used to diagnose many illnesses such as epilepsy and to study the maturation of the brain in a growing child. It is a safe, noninvasive method that has been used for nearly 100 years.
