New representation system for brain operations

1998/12/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Medikuntza

From now on neurosurgeons will be able to see in their operations instant images of the brain thanks to a new tool. This device, developed at the Toronto Hospital, has been named Minimal Image-Guided Invasion Therapy (IGIMT) and, as with existing machines, obtains brain imaging by magnetic resonance.

Its main advantage is that it is much smaller than other machines, as it is designed to be used in operations.

Instead of inserting the patient into the resonance chamber, the IGIMT device is placed around the patient's head like a helmet and remains at the place of operation. The surgeon, while working, can see the images collected in a scanner with worse quality but snapshots than in other machines. The IGIMT tool has a magnetic field of 1.5 teslas and a value of 10 million dollars.