Objective: The objective of this study is to summarize and analyze the brain signal patterns of empathy for pain caused by facial expressions of pain utilizing activation likelihood estimation, a meta-analysis method. Data Sources: Studies concerning the brain mechanism were searched from the Science Citation Index, Science Direct, PubMed, DeepDyve, Cochrane Library, SinoMed, Wanfang, VIP, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, and other databases, such as SpringerLink, AMA, Science Online, Wiley Online, were collected. A time limitation of up to 13 December 2016 was applied to this study. Data Selection: Studies presenting with all of the following criteria were considered for study inclusion: Use of functional magnetic resonance imaging, neutral and pained facial expression stimuli, involvement of adult healthy human participants over 18 years of age, whose empathy ability showed no difference from the healthy adult, a painless basic state, results presented in Talairach or Montreal Neurological Institute coordinates, multiple studies by the same team as long as they used different raw data. Outcome Measures: Activation likelihood estimation was used to calculate the combined main activated brain regions under the stimulation of pained facial expression. Results: Eight studies were included, containing 178 subjects. Meta-analysis results suggested that the anterior cingulate cortex (BA32), anterior central gyrus (BA44), fusiform gyrus, and insula (BA13) were activated positively as major brain areas under the stimulation of pained facial expression. Conclusion: Our study shows that pained facial expression alone, without viewing of painful stimuli, activated brain regions related to pain empathy, further contributing to revealing the brain’s mechanisms of pain empathy.

OBJECTIVE: To increase access to health interventions and healthcare services for patients in resource-constrained settings, strategies such as telemedicine must be implemented for the allocation of medical resources across geographic boundaries. Telecollaboration is the dominant form of surgical telemedicine. In this study, the authors report and evaluate a novel mobile internet-based mixed-reality interactive telecollaboration (MIMIT) system as a new paradigm for telemedicine and validate its clinical feasibility. METHODS: The application of this system was demonstrated for long-distance, real-time collaboration of neuroendoscopic procedures. The system consists of a local video processing workstation, a head-mounted mixed-reality display device, and a mobile remote device, connected over mobile internet (4G or 5G), allowing global point-to-point communication. Using this system, 20 cases of neuroendoscopic surgery were performed and evaluated. The system setup, composite video latency, technical feasibility, clinical implementation, and future potential business model were analyzed and evaluated. RESULTS: The MIMIT system allows two surgeons to perform complex visual and verbal communication during the operation. The average video delay time is 184.25 msec (range 160–230 msec) with 4G mobile internet, and 23.25 msec (range 20–26 msec) with 5G mobile internet. Excellent image resolution enabled remote neurosurgeons to visualize all critical anatomical structures intraoperatively. Remote instructors could easily make marks on the surgical view; then the composite image, as well as the audio conversation, was transferred to the local surgeon. In this way, a real-time, long-distance collaboration can occur. This system was used for 20 neuroendoscopic surgeries in various cities in China and even across countries (Boston, Massachusetts, to Jingzhou, China). Its simplicity and practicality have been recognized by both parties, and there were no technically related complications recorded. CONCLUSIONS: The MIMIT system allows for real-time, long-distance telecollaborative neuroendoscopic procedures and surgical training through a commercially available and inexpensive system. It enables remote experts to implement real-time, long-distance intraoperative interaction to guide inexperienced local surgeons, thus integrating the best medical resources and possibly promoting both diagnosis and treatment. Moreover, it can popularize and improve neurosurgical endoscopy technology in more hospitals to benefit more patients, as well as more neurosurgeons.

Addressing conventional neurosurgical navigation systems’ high costs and complexity, this study explores the feasibility and accuracy of a simplified, cost-effective mixed reality navigation (MRN) system based on a laser crosshair simulator (LCS). A new automatic registration method was developed, featuring coplanar laser emitters and a recognizable target pattern. The workflow was integrated into Microsoft’s HoloLens-2 for practical application. The study assessed the system’s precision by utilizing life-sized 3D-printed head phantoms based on computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data from 19 patients (female/male: 7/12, average age: 54.4 ± 18.5 years) with intracranial lesions. Six to seven CT/MRI-visible scalp markers were used as reference points per case. The LCS-MRN’s accuracy was evaluated through landmark-based and lesion-based analyses, using metrics such as target registration error (TRE) and Dice similarity coefficient (DSC). The system demonstrated immersive capabilities for observing intracranial structures across all cases. Analysis of 124 landmarks showed a TRE of 3.0 ± 0.5 mm, consistent across various surgical positions. The DSC of 0.83 ± 0.12 correlated significantly with lesion volume (Spearman rho = 0.813, p < 0.001). Therefore, the LCS-MRN system is a viable tool for neurosurgical planning, highlighting its low user dependency, cost-efficiency, and accuracy, with prospects for future clinical application enhancements.

OBJECTIVE: A clear, stable, suitably located vision field is essential for port surgery. A scope is usually held by hand or a fixing device. The former yields fatigue and requires lengthy training, while the latter increases inconvenience because of needing to adjust the scope. Thus, the authors innovated a novel robotic system that can recognize the port and automatically place the scope in an optimized position. In this study, the authors executed a preliminary experiment to test this system’s technical feasibility and accuracy in vitro. METHODS: A collaborative robotic (CoBot) system consisting of a mechatronic arm and a 3D camera was developed. With the 3D camera and programmed machine vision, CoBot can search a marker attached to the opening of the surgical port, followed by automatic alignment of the scope’s axis with the port’s longitudinal axis so that optimal illumination and visual observation can be achieved. Three tests were conducted. In test 1, the robot positioned a laser range finder attached to the robot’s arm to align the sheath’s center axis. The laser successfully passing through two holes in the port sheath’s central axis defined successful positioning. Researchers recorded the finder’s readings, demonstrating the actual distance between the finder and the sheath. In test 2, the robot held a high-definition exoscope and relocated it to the setting position. Test 3 was similar to test 2, but a metal holder substituted the robot. Trained neurosurgeons manually adjusted the holder. The manipulation time was recorded. Additionally, a grading system was designed to score each image captured by the exoscope at the setting position, and the scores in the two tests were compared using the rank-sum test. RESULTS: The CoBot system positioned the finder successfully in all rounds in test 1; the mean height errors ± SD were 1.14 mm ± 0.38 mm (downward) and 1.60 mm ± 0.89 mm (upward). The grading scores of images in tests 2 and 3 were significantly different. Regarding the total score and four subgroups, test 2 showed a more precise, better-positioned, and more stable vision field. The total manipulation time in test 2 was 20 minutes, and for test 3 it was 52 minutes. CONCLUSIONS: The CoBot system successfully acted as a robust scope holding system to provide a stable and optimized surgical view during simulated port surgery, providing further evidence for the substitution of human hands, and leading to a more efficient, user-friendly, and precise operation.