A 32-year-old man from Bengaluru played the guitar while undergoing a seven-hour-long brain surgery.
Yes, you read it right.
A techie-turned-musician, was suffering from a condition called musician's dystonia, a neurological muscle disorder that causes involuntary muscle contractions, cramping three fingers on his left hand.
The cramps first started a year and a half ago due to long hours of practice, and last week, the man went under the knife for it. Doctors asked him to play the guitar as they operated to help them locate the affected areas of the brain.
The treatment involved opening up the skull and "burning" the parts of the brain that were causing the convulsions. Since the man suffered from the problem only while playing the guitar, he was asked to continue playing during the surgery to provide real-time response to help the doctors target the exact problem area and perform the procedure with precision.
While the physicians "burned down” his brain’s portions, which actuated the abnormal vibrations in his muscular tissues, the boy played the instrument to assist them place the upsetting regions.
Dr. Sanjiv C C, a senior brain doctor from the University of British Columbia, stated, “This problem occurred when he tried to play the instrument and real-time feedback was important for us to ascertain the exact location of the target to be repaired.”
Dr, Sharan Srinivasan, a stereotactic and practical neurosurgeon at Jain Institute of Movement Disorders and Stereotactic Neurosurgery, stated: “This is a surgical procedure where the portion of the brain activating irregular tremors is destructed by burning. Before the surgical treatment, a unique frame got set up to his skull with 4 screws entering deep into the head accompanying which an MRI was carried out.”
MRI pictures demonstrated three coordinates of the target region in the brain (8-9cm deep, in this case) together with the entry spot to the head and the path to be accompanied during surgical procedure.
“Based on these coordinates, a 14mm hole was drilled into the skull under local anaesthesia and a specialized electrode was passed into the brain following which it was stimulated to confirm the right location and prevent future complications,” he added.
The operation was successful, and within three days, the man could return home to his life of music. "I was amazed to see my fingers improve magically on the operation table itself. By the end of the surgery, my fingers were 100% cured and I could move them like before," he said.
Sounds shocking? Isn’t?
Watch this wonderful video by Consequence of Sound, to understand how it works.
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