Dear Colleague,

I would like to take this opportunity to invite you to join the newly established International Society of Intraoperative Neurophysiology (ISIN), founded in 2005.

Intraoperative Neurophysiology is the new frontier of Clinical Neurophysiology and there could be no better time to become involved than now. Novel ideas, techniques and applications sprout up regularly as this young field strives toward maturity. Perhaps no new technique sparks more excitement and enthusiasm than motor evoked potential monitoring, which dramatically advances the care of patients undergoing surgery threatening the motor system. Nevertheless, all aspects of intraoperative neurophysiology continue to undergo developments toward optimizing surgical feedback and patient outcome. Furthermore, the field embraces neurologists, neurophysiologists, surgeons, anesthesiologists, technologists and nurses, leading to a rich multi-disciplinary exchange of ideas. Neurophysiologic monitoring in the intensive care unit is a related field undergoing similar advances.

While demand for neurophysiologic monitoring grows exponentially, challenging questions and controversies remain. How can the demand be met? What guidelines or standards are there to assist practitioners, programs and institutions? Who is qualified to undertake the technical and interpretive responsibilities and how can they be trained and credentialed? What programs represent excellence in the field and how can they be accredited? The American Society of Neurophysiologic Monitoring (ASNM) has begun to address these issues for the United States, but we believe that an international effort is also needed. Practitioners believe that neurophysiologic monitoring improves patient outcome, but can this be proven? Research efforts in that direction must be encouraged.

The ISIN intends to tackle these issues on a global basis. It will accomplish this by promoting education, research, practice, guideline and accreditation initiatives for neurophysiologic monitoring around the world. This year the Society struck committees to begin the development of internationally applicable guidelines and practitioner credentialing. We also held the 1 st Congress of the ISIN in Lucern, Switzerland. The meeting was a resounding success with over 200 participants and high quality presentations and papers ranging from our first basic course to the most recent advances in intraoperative cortical functional testing. The next congress will be in Dubrovnik, Croatia in the fall of 2009. In the meantime, the ISIN will offer supportive recognition to a number of regional meetings around the world and foster interaction with related societies such as the ASNM.

The Society needs the input and participation of practitioners from around the world in order to achieve its goals. Consequently, we hope that you will consider joining us in this exciting adventure.

Sincerely,

David B. MacDonald, MD
President, ISIN