Frameless Stereotactic Brain Surgery

 
The frameless stereotactic apparatus allows the surgeon to navigate through the spine and cranium with image guidance. CT or MR images of the surgical field  are imported into the computer software. A digitizing camera senses the position of the surgeon's instruments in space and indicates the position of the instrument on the image displayed on the computer monitor in real time, as the operation proceeds.
The advantages include:

• More precision in approach.

• Limited surgical exposure.

• Greater safety.

• More complete tumor removal

We use the Brain Lab iPlan Stereotaxy systems. These have proven to be very useful in frameless brain biopsy, and tumor removal as well as frame-based stereotactic surgery, including the placement of deep brain electrodes for essential tremor and Parkinson's Disease The patient's MR or CT images are viewed on the computer monitor and the surgeon develops a treatment plan.

The skin markers are registered using a probe which is linked to the computer by a camera which detects the probe's position in space. This marries the position of the head in space with the images in the computer.

Surgical instruments incorporating light emiting diodes are followed by the computer during the operation. The surgeon can navigate through the brain using the computer images linked to his surgical instruments or microscope.

Frameless Stereotactic Spine Surgery