Top medical scientists share advancement in functional neurosurgery in Beijing forum

Dozens of the world's top medical specialists and scientists assembled in Beijing to share their latest findings in functional neurosurgery research, during the 2017 China Forum on Functional Neurosurgery.

Held from Sept 16 to 17, the forum was organized by Xuanwu Hospital of Capital Medical University and Beijing Institute of Functional Neurosurgery.

In-depth discussion of functional neurosurgery between representatives from the United States, Germany, France, Canada, Japan, South Korea and China, conducted a detailed review of the field.

Professor Li Yongjie, president of the forum, said the purpose of the forum is to promote the international integration of China's functional neurosurgery.

At present, the concept of precision medicine is being recognized worldwide. Brain science has made breakthrough, so that functional neurological disease diagnosis and treatment are gaining momentum. The great progress of information and engineering technology has made medical development even more powerful: from nerve navigation to robotics, from visual simulation to reality enhancement, from brain-to-machine fusion to artificial intelligence.

Many unimaginable surgery in the past has become a reality. Neuromodulation will be more applicable in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease and psychiatric disorders. There will be minimally invasive location and treatment of epileptic foci.

All this will greatly benefit patients and society, and also provide big opportunities for clinical medicine, scientific research and industrial transformation. As a result, there is a greater need for collaboration and co-innovation among different areas globally.

Mark Hallett, chief of the Human Motor Control Section at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, stressed on the mechanism of deep brain electrical stimulation in the treatment of dystonia.

Professor Paul S. Larson from the department of neurological surgery, University of California, San Francisco, introduced the experience of multidisciplinary management of Parkinson's disease and gene therapy for Parkinson's disease.

Ali Rezai, former chairman of the American Society of Neurosurgeons and former chairman of the North American Neuromodulation Society, talked about brain-machine interface and sports function rehabilitation.