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Bryant Gumbel

'Brain Surgery Live' coming to TV

Bryan Alexander
USA TODAY
National Geographic Channel will televise the first network brain surgery

Most network TV is far from brain surgery. The National Geographic Channel is turning that long-standing trend around.

The network will capture the drama of awake deep brain stimulation (DBS) surgery during a historic, two-hour live special on Oct. 25, according to a release.

Brain Surgery Live will take viewers into a cutting-edge operating room during the DBS surgery, an elective procedure in which an opening is made in the skull to access the brain.

The brain will be operated on, in front of cameras, while the patient is fully awake and able to speak with the neurosurgeons and neurologists, according to the release.

Because the patient is awake, the neurologists know where to target electrodes and then put the patient through a series of tests to determine whether or not they've pinpointed the affected brain area.

The high-tech operating room at UH Case Medical Center in Cleveland will feature two manned, handheld cameras, as well as several robotic cameras with inputs directly into the doctors' surgical equipment.

As a result, throughout the live broadcast, viewers will see what the neurosurgery team is seeing. The live event will feature up-close, live images of the brain as it is being operated on in real time.

"We're offering a real-time look into the center of a living brain that we hope will illuminate and teach, as well as tell a story that is unforgettable," Tim Pastore, president of original programming and production for the National Geographic Channel said in the release.

Bryant Gumbel will host the live event along with neurosurgeon and scientist Rahul Jandial and science journalist Cara Santa Maria.

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