The Ohio State University’s Anatomy Laboratory Toward Visuospatial Surgical Innovation in Otolaryngology and Neurosurgery (ALT-VISION) receives funding from a variety of sources, with one of its most consistent and long-term being an annual philanthropic donation by Linda Dever.
“Ms. Dever has been very generous all these years,” says Ricardo Carrau, MD, co-director of ALT-VISION and a professor of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. “I treated her husband many years ago. She was very grateful for the care that we gave him for his cancer.”
Phillip and Linda Dever owned and operated Devco Oil, Inc. in Cambridge, Ohio. Although Phillip Dever passed away in 2014, Linda Dever has continued her generous support of the mission of the ALT-VISION laboratory. Since her first gift in 2012, Ms. Dever has contributed over $86,000 to the program, most recently in August 2024.
ALT-VISION is a research and education lab that offers visiting researchers the opportunity to work with cadaveric specimens and 3D neuronavigation techniques. With these facilities and expertise, they work to learn about, refine and develop surgical approaches or perform their research projects.
The field of skull base surgery has benefited significantly from the expertise provided by ALT-VISION, producing 35 published studies in 2024 alone, a record number. Over the years, the laboratory has hosted more than 200 scholars from around the world, with 15 in 2024. In addition to training surgeons, the ALT-VISION laboratory has initiated a Medical Student Dissection Program (Introduction to Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery and Neurosurgery Anatomy and Surgical Dissection Techniques) for the fourth-year medical student program. The program provides anatomical and surgical lectures with a hands-on, structured dissection curriculum that leverages the intersection of otolaryngology and neurosurgery within skull base surgery.
ALT-VISION’s 3D photogrammetry project creates interactive 3D educational anatomical models for cranial and skull base dissections of surgical approaches as a surgical atlas for surgeons. Expanding on that concept, the ALT-VISION lab is creating an application that allows for complex image downloads of different surgical techniques. Initially a printed course manual, the new 3D model incorporates 1,000 to 2,000 cadaveric images linked by artificial intelligence (AI). The application is sponsored by Medtronic and owned by The Ohio State University.
ALT-VISION is not supported by National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants but by tuition for the annual course and donations from people such as Ms. Dever.
“We are incredibly grateful for her generosity,” Dr. Carrau says. “It allows us to continue performing our valuable work in the lab.”