N eurosurgery
Ahead of the game
Professor Karl Schaller
The Geneva clinical neuroscience centre is a leader in the treatment of various neuro- pathologies, says Professor Karl Schaller, of the Department of Neurosurgery, HUG, thanks to a dense concentration of highly competent people and institutions.
W e are sitting in the first hybrid neurointerventional suite in the world, built in 2008 and refurbished in 2015. It's in here surgeons use another Geneva creation - augmented reality technology applied for neurovascular repair. Karl Schaller, Chief of the Department of Neurosurgery, HUG, outlines Geneva’s strengths: “We are strong in numerous areas, but we are in the champions’ league when it comes to neurosurgical treatment of three different pathologies. First, the treatment of neurovascular disease, such as cerebral aneurysms. This includes a strong body of research, including big data management, high performance computing and haemorrhage risk simulation, where we are ahead of most others. Second, the treatment of otherwise untreatable epilepsy disorders, for which we are internationally known - conjointly with the “It will be possible to create a synergy unparalleled in Europe, if
unit of epileptology. And, third, minimal invasive spinal surgery.” Today, Geneva is at the forefront of the most exciting developments in the field. “Our work in the future,” says Prof Schaller, “Will be increasingly affected by the creation of hybrid humans, where an interface is created between the human nervous system and neuroprosthetic devices; neurosurgery as we know it will disappear. On the one hand, it will continue to be bloody and rough as the incidences of cranio-spinal trauma increase due to the growth of armed conflicts and the affects of an ageing society in the Western world. On the other hand, we will transform into access providers for the targeted therapy of neurodegenerative diseases, dementia and other situations requiring neural repair. These problems can be approached with the help of engineers and biologists.“ The creation of Campus Biotech brings together specialists in the health sector from every field in clinical, experimental and computational neurosciences with biologists and specialists in cognitive neurology and engineering. “It will be possible,” says Prof Schaller, “to create a synergy unparalleled in Europe, if not the world.” Along with colleagues at HUG, Prof Schaller founded the Swiss
Foundation for Innovation and Training in Surgery (SFITS), embedded in the campus of HUG. He says, “We are about to build what I hope will be the first neuro-cognitive suite in this part of the world – in our new OR at HUG, to carry out psycho-physiological experiments in anaesthetised patients. We are working with Campus Biotech to develop the technology necessary to survey functions during brain surgery. It requires enormous expertise on both the technical and medical side.” There are many reasons to choose Geneva for both meetings and as a place to live and work, says Prof Schaller: “Location, location, location, and people, people, people. For a small city Geneva provides highly competent people and institutions in a very condensed fashion. I had the option to leave but the longer I was here, the less I wanted to leave again.” World leaders / The treatment of neurovascular disease / The treatment of otherwise untreatable epilepsy disorders / Minimally invasive spinal surgery
not the world” Professor Karl Schaller
VIII geneva 2018
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