TUMI Neurosurgical Center

There is an unmet need in neurosurgical care, especially in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). For instance, about 5 billion people lack access to surgery worldwide, and nine out of ten patients in LMICs do not have access to basic neurosurgical procedures. Consequently, this has resulted in lost human lives, the impairment of patient and family’s quality of life, and economic costs to many countries. Moreover, it is estimated the absence of solutions to this problem will result in a total loss of $ 12.3 trillion dollars by 2030.

In Peru, about 40% of the population do not have access to neurosurgical care and there is a ratio of 1 neurosurgeon per 125,000 people, aside from the expensive nature of surgeries. Thus, there is a lack of access and affordability to neurosurgical care. Moreover, the scarcity of multidisciplinary teams and modern technological equipment is dramatically accentuated in rural and poor areas. For example, patients need to travel long distances to seek basic surgical care, and most of the time do not reach on time or the outcomes are poor due to precarious settings.

Many international taskforces consider this neurosurgical gap and disparity as a “moral, health, and financial necessity” and recommend the buildup of human resources and cost-effective technologies able to address the patient delivery demand in the upcoming years. 

The "TUMI Neurosurgical Center" is a virtual platform that aims to interconnect organizations from high-income countries and Peruvian institutions to provide sustainable technologies capable of improving neurosurgical education and treatment in limited resource hospitals. 

Our algorithms will allow handling patient health information efficiently and provide a communication system for organizations dedicated to helping underserved people during medical missions. Importantly, it will also constitute a hub for the development of virtual and augmented reality technologies able to provide remote assistance for Neurosurgery and education.

Peruvian pediatric and adult patients are underserved due to a lack of accessibility and affordability to basic neurosurgical procedures. Also, the majority of neurosurgery professionals do not receive training in novel procedures largely due to the expensive costs of required equipment. Several efforts to bring world-class treatment to these patients have been done in the last decades such as the temporary training of local neurosurgeons in high-income countries, the sporadic visit of surgical missions partnered with international organizations, and the creation of specialized centers. Although these initiatives are remarkable, they still face challenges related to the follow-up of patients, the monitoring of their progress, and the sustainability of projects.

Hence, the "TUMI Neurosurgical Center" aims to provide cost-effective technical solutions to health care professionals and patients seeking neurosurgical care in limited-resources facilities of Peru. I strongly believe the use of augmented and virtual reality will catalyze the buildup of the local workforce, the learning of novel neurosurgical techniques, and the treatment of low-income patients in a collaborative and remote fashion. Thus, this virtual platform will be open to existent and new partnerships between international and local organizations to plan surgeries, discuss patient cases, follow-up clinical records, provide a teaching environment and a space for the use of telesurgery.

Through charity, this concept will help to multiply the current efforts while maintaining the organizations' autonomy for the benefit of underserved patients.

Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia is a leading institution in innovation in the country with a trajectory of high-quality research for underserved populations. It has multiple local partners, including "Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú", with whom they have partnered to create the Biomedical engineering school. A collaboration between the medical and bioengineering school will further expand the innovative spirit in this project. 

The Mission Brain Foundation is a non-profit organization that aims to treat, educate and empower health care workers dedicated to advancing the field of international Neurosurgery. They have conducted several medical mission across the globe, including Peru. Our alliance with this foundation will serve to expand the services of TUMI to other locations such as Mexico, Colombia, The Phillipines, and India. 

I strongly believe this concept of providing networking and remote education with AR/VR technologies will revolutionize the field of Global Neurosurgery. However, it currently needs more mentoring in software, financial needs and legal terms to establish it in multiple countries, starting from Peru.   

The fact that we are aiming to incorporate Augmented and virtual reality to provide remote neurosurgical assistance and education to health care providers and underserved patients.

To provide connection, interaction, and progress tracking between organizations in charge of the neurosurgical treatment of low-income patients.

• Organizations bringing neurosurgical treatment from high-income countries have been mapped out (about 10 of them have previously delivered treatment in Peru). Specially, The Mission Brain Foundation, where I currently serve as a volunteer in my medical school chapter, will be the first to help on this project pilot alongside our university hospital.

To develop cost-effective Virtual/Augmented Reality technologies for remote guidance and education in Neurosurgery

• The Biomedical Engineering school at Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia is an important ally to develop such technologies. Moreover, some companies that develop education software based on VR/AR might be able to join upon the initial funding of this project. 
• Furthermore, the financial support of the center will be based on charity donations, the application to grants offered by Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, fundraising campaigns, and the investment of companies willing to collaborate with us. 

TUMI is aligned with four UN sustainable development Goals:

• “To ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages”
• “Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all”
• “Reduce inequality within and among countries”
• “Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development”

The main indicators to measure the progress of the TUMI Neurosurgical center are:

• The number of Peruvian areas and hospitals with at least one established partnership program registered at TUMI.
• The number of new partnerships registered and established in a year via TUMI.
• The number of patients treated between international and local surgeons during a medical mission.
• The number of patients treated by previously trained local surgeons in an autonomous way.
• The number of Peruvian neurosurgical trainees that completed VR/AR educational modules
• Specially designed surveys to measure the impact of TUMI on the education of trainees 
• The number of innovations created in a year (e.g, VR/AR-based software and hardware)

Providing education in Neurosurgery is costly. The creation of remote software based on AR/VR solves helps in providing massive education and surgical guidance. 

Our center aims to be based on virtual and augmented reality. 

Our team partners come from different backgrounds and nationalities. We do not discriminate against age, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or religion.