BrainLab launches neurosurgical suite

Redwood City, CA-based BrainLab hopes to bring the MRI industry a step closer to interventional applications with the development of BrainSuite, an experimental neurosurgical operating room that combines image-guided surgery, intra-operative MRI, and visualization/data management technology. BrainSuite links the company's VectorVision sky IGS, Siemens Magnetom 1.5T iMRI, Zeiss OPMI NC4 Multivision Microscopy, and an extra-large OR viewing wall (13 x 3.5 feet).

Once in an OR outfitted with BrainSuite, the patient is scanned, images are loaded into the VectorVision sky's database, and the IGS system is automatically updated. The in-surgery viewing wall displays multimedia data such as diagnostic scans, live video, and navigation views during the operation. Surgeons control functions from the VectorVision sky touchscreen. The patient can be rescanned at any time during the procedure to provide the surgeon with updated information for the surgical procedure. Developers hope BrainSuite, which is pending FDA clearance, will lower reoperation rates, improve control of tumor resection, reduce complication rates, and increase navigation accuracy.