The main problems we have in Brachial Plexus and Peripheral Nerve surgery are not technical, they are due to difficulties in evaluation :
Evaluation of the roots , their ability to give a strong input into the grafts . With experience , we may have thought that , by looking ,resecting the root we would be able to judge the functionality of the root. This has proved wrong and even by using MRI, histology , intraoperative stimulation , the situation is not perfect , making difficult the decision.
Our aim will be to develop easy simple ways to combine these informations , preoperatively by 3D reconstruction and maybe printing of the MRI,CT scan, Ultrasound examinations to better planify the procedure, during the operation with easy , fast histology and nerve potentials, using A.I.
A better evaluation is also necessary but the multiple scales are examinator dependent and can hardly be trusted and compared. The movement evaluation based on video interpretation by A.I. will become the standard .
This meeting will not only show the ultimate progresses with all these techniques but we plan workshops to train the surgeons in doing they own evaluation with their computer and smartphone and give them the tools to apply it.
Alain Gilbert and Eric Devinney