GPS for the Brain

Reported September 2007

Chicago, Ill. (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Surgery is getting better and better and the tools used are getting smaller and smaller. What used to require large incisions and months of recovery is now done with tiny instruments. The latest 3-D technology makes brain surgery better and safer for patients suffering from a stroke or aneurysm.

"It's a funny feeling to wake up, and all of a sudden in a hospital, and you've got things stuck in you everywhere, and you're thinking, 'What the hell happened?!' It's like a horror movie," Arlene Mikol says.

Mikol had a bleeding brain aneurysm -- something people survive only half the time. She credits being alive to neuroseurgons who used a new brain imaging technology. During surgery, doctors threaded tiny instruments through the leg artery up to brain vessels. The imaging system produces 3-D CT scan images in real time.

"Think about this; if you're working on the roof of your house without a flashlight for example. You know, how can you really repair something if you're not seeing it very well?" Demetrius Lopes, M.D., neurosurgeon from Rush University Medical Center, asks.

With the standard angiogram, you need to take 50 different images. Now, the 3-D scan can be rotated to look from any angle and see 500 pictures from just one image.

"That has an impact on how fast a procedure is and how safe that procedure is going to be done."

Arlene knows how lucky she is and has a new perspective. She says she wants to live till 90 to see her grandchildren grow up.

"So I'm fighting it as long as I can. I'm going to fight it!" Mikol exclaims.

The system is also used for stroke patients. Other advantages to it: surgeons are able to see fine details like the shape of an aneurysm and the exact placement of a stent. Also, patients are exposed to less radiation and need less contrast dye, which can affect the kidneys.

Click here to Go Inside This Science or contact:

Kim Waterman
Associate Director, Media Relations
Rush University Medical Center
Chicago, IL
(312) 942-7820
Kimberly_Waterman@rush.edu

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