[Special characteristics and necessary equipments for intraoperative neurological monitoring]

An intraoperative monitoring is essential for performing surgery, especially in the neurosurgical field. Intraoperative neurological monitoring methods may involve an application of evoked potential examinations in clinical physiology. Accordingly, it is necessary to perform intraoperative neurological monitoring to basically understand the principles and techniques of evoked potential examinations. Furthermore, the point of intraoperative neurological monitoring is to clarify environmental differences between the operating room and clinical physiological laboratory. In the laboratory, evoked potential examination are almost always performed in a shielded room. Therefore, there is little noise on records of these evoked potentials. However, records of intraoperative neurological monitoring are contaminated with a lot of noise caused by medical electronic equipment used in the operating room. Most of this noise results from electromagnetic factors. And the remaining noise is caused by mechanical, optical, and acoustic factors. Consequently elimination of noise from these various sources from the monitoring records would promote the success of intoraoperative neurological monitoring. In this study, differential amplifiers, class I medical electronic equipments, and shield mats were tested to eliminate the alternating current noise that frequently contaminates the intraoperative neurological monitoring record. In addition, neurological monitoring system, recording electrodes, and extension cables are introduced as necessary equipment and materials for the intraoperative neurological monitoring.