Digital Technology in Neurosurgery: A Successful Entrepreneurship Story

Abstract

Modern medicine is witnessing an epochal change due, on the one hand, to the unprecedented technological advancement of these recent decades. On the other hand, in the western world the need for hyper-specialized and “infallible” physicians is continuously growing, whereas a large part of the less developed world struggles for having basics cures. The quest for capillary, affordable, and high-level training in medicine is as much as ever actual, and neurosurgery, with its complicated and demanding training path, is one of the most involved by these necessities. Traditionally, training relies on a large theoretical knowledge acquisition and on a steep practical learning curve, which is basically built on cadaver dissection (when available) and practice on patients. For these reasons and similarly to other domains, simulation has undoubtedly gained a huge interest in all the fields of medicine. Simulation can potentially fill the gap between theory and practice by helping the learner to get to real world with a more robust background of cognitive and psychomotor training.

In this chapter we retrace the story of UpSurgeOn, a start-up founded by two Italian neurosurgeons focused on the creation of a novel hybrid educational platform provided by digital and physical hi-tech and low-cost technologies to support mental and manual training. This strategy reduces the costs, in line with the global need of innovative instruments capable to provide additional support to neurosurgical training even for settings with limited facilities, e.g., LMIC (low- to middle-income countries).