[Application of Neuroendoscope and Exoscope for Glioma Surgery]

The recent progress of neuroendoscopy and exoscopy has yielded new strategies in neurosurgery, especially in glioma surgery. Neuroendoscopic port surgery makes it possible to remove deep-seated gliomas with minimal invasiveness. In port surgery, it is important to control tumor bleeding during intratumoral removal. As exoscopic systems have high flexibility of the video camera position, the surgical approach can be selected with various visual axes, which is difficult when using microscopic systems. Considering the characteristics of exoscopes, exoscopic surgery can be applied for the removal of superficial gliomas, and exoscopes are useful for glioma resection under awake craniotomy. However, there are outstanding tasks to improve surgical devices for neuroendoscopic surgery. The video quality and deep lighting of exoscopes are insufficient for general usage. Moreover, there are few training courses available for these surgical techniques. In the near future, based on these developments, neuroendoscopic and exoscopic surgeries may become more common treatments.