Neurosurgery and clinical engineering

Modern technology has profoundly altered the clinical practice of neurosurgery. For a wide variety of conditions, patients are being implanted with active and passive devices or treated with advanced microsurgical instrumentation. After surgery, such patients are sent to modern intensive-care units employing the latest advances in patient monitoring and computer technology. We contend that the responsibilities of the Clinical Engineer extend beyond simple installation and maintenance of equipment and systems. It is essential that he take part in the continuing education of non-technical personnel who must make use of the equipment in ways that are meaningful in the care of the patient and to the progress of clinical science. This point is illustrated by our experience with a neurosurgical intensive-care unit. It is also the thesis of this paper that the design and maintenance of increasingly sophisticated biomedical systems will benefit from the use of an interdisciplinary approach at the very inception of a project. This approach is illustrated by our current development of a multibeam microwave hyperthermia system for possible use in the treatment of brain tumors.