Commonwealth Health Neurosurgeons Use Moveable MRI in the Operating Room

12/7/2017

WILKES-BARRE, Pa. (Dec. 7, 2017) – Neurosurgeons at Commonwealth Health Wilkes-Barre General Hospital are using iMRI technology, an MRI-guided surgical procedure which allows them greater precision when performing delicate cranial, spinal and general surgery.

Pennsylvania’s only moveable MRI uses intraoperative magnetic resonance imaging, allowing surgeons to take high-resolution scans of patients during surgery, providing them with improved real-time information and allowing them to analyze and operate with greater precision.

The device features a ceiling-mounted magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI, machine. In the case of a brain tumor, for instance, this equipment allows surgeons to check their work as they go, offering a clearer way to distinguish between tumorous tissue and normal tissue.

The machine has multiple uses and when it’s not being used in the operating room, can be used as a diagnostic MRI, increasing the hospital’s clinical diagnostic capacity and making it more cost-effective.

The major benefit in the operating room is the surgeons’ immediate access to high-quality images without having to move the patient. Doctors can take a scan, start surgery, then take further scans to evaluate and response as the surgery progresses – all while moving the MRI and not the patient.

In the past, surgeons might complete a procedure and have to wait a few days before the patient could be scanned again, only to discover that some of the tumor still remained, requiring a second operation.