Deep Brain Stimulation Surgery

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Teacher's Guide

Recommended Grade Levels: 7 - 12 and up 
WARNING: Some of the photographs and procedures in this surgery activity are rather graphic.

Tips for using the site with students      

  1. Before using this activity in class (or at home with your kids) go through the activity once to make sure it works correctly on your computer(s). This activity is recommended for broadband internet access - expect load times between 15 seconds and 1.5 minutes depending on your internet connection.

  2. If the activity does not load after clicking the 'start' button, you may be asked to download a Flash Player from Adobe.com. Please click yes, as this allows you to view the Edheads Deep Brain Stimulation Surgery.

  3. If you are using an iPad or other iDevice, our games will not play without downloading an app or browser. We recommend the Photon browser available at: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/photon-flash-player-for-ipad/id430200224?mt=8.

  4. Your computer(s) will need to have some sort of sound output. Either speakers or headphones will work well. The majority of this activity has voice audio. We highly recommend headphones in a classroom setting. 

  5. Students in the target grade-range will take approximately fifteen minutes to complete surgery working individually or in groups of two to three. Some students can get queasy using this activity, particularly when looking at the photos of real surgery. We recommend closely monitoring students when they experience this activity for the first time.

  6. After students use the site, teachers may want to discuss with their class why certain steps of surgery occurred in the order they did, or why these steps were performed at all. Asking questions such as “why do you think the Operating Room team asks the patient to do math (counting backwards by 7s) during the surgery?” will get students thinking about WHY various steps exist or why they are accomplished as they are. Teachers can also ask questions such as, “what do you think the FIRST brain surgery was like and how do you think it differed from today’s surgery?”

Answers to Quiz Questions 

Q1. Why are the fiducials placed where they are?
A1. Because they need to be out of the way of the trajectory for the stimulation probe.

Q2. Why do you think I used a saline solution during drilling? 
A2. To cool the drill hole while the drill is working. AND To wash small bits of bone out of the surgical incision.

Q3. Why are we going to so much effort to measure and re-measure the location of the fiducials and the base of the tower?
A3. Because the location of the stimulation probe being inserted into the brain has to be exactly on target

Q4. Why doesn’t the surgeon and/or resident do the testing with the patient?
A4. They are part of the sterile field and cannot touch the patient or anything that is not inside the sterile field.

Q5. Why wait two weeks before setting the system? 
A5. Any procedure produces swelling and inflammation.  As the swelling and inflammation changes, the settings of the stimulator also will change. It would be frustrating for patient to come in daily for this.

Q6. What number would you give Ellen on the tasks she has just completed?
A6. 4 = severe impairment. 

Ohio Science Standards

Science & Technology
Grades 6-8:

  1. Give examples of how technological advances, influenced by scientific knowledge, affect the quality of life.
  2. Design a solution or product taking into account needs and constraints (e.g., cost, time, trade-offs, properties of materials, safety and aesthetics).

Scientific Inquiry
Grades 6-8:

  1. Explain that there are differing sets of procedures for guiding scientific investigations and procedures are determined by the nature of the investigation, safety considerations and appropriate tools.

Scientific Ways of Knowing
Grades 11-12:

  1. Explain how ethical considerations shape scientific endeavors.
  2. Explain how societal issues and considerations affect the progress of science and technology.
National Science Standards   

Content Standards
Grades 5-8:

  1. Understandings about scientific Inquiry.
  2. Understanding of structure and function in living systems, reproduction and heredity.
  3. Abilities of technological design and understandings about science and technology.
  4. Personal health risks and benefits, science and technology in society.

Grades 9-12:

  • Understandings about scientific inquiry.
  • Matter, energy and organization in living systems and behavior of organisms.
  • Abilities of technological design, understandings about science and technology.
  • Natural and human-induced hazards, science and technology in local, national, and global challenges.
  • Understanding of the nature of scientific knowledge and science as a human endeavor.