Picker touts open MRI craniotomy

Images from a low-field open MRI scanner manufactured by Picker International were used to guide the removal of a brain tumor in a patient at Long Beach Memorial Medical Center in Long Beach, CA. The Cleveland vendor believes that the use of a low-field MRI scanner in guiding a craniotomy was the first in the U.S. The hospital used Picker's Outlook MRI scanner, in conjunction with the vendor's ViewPoint image-guided surgery system. Employing MRI guidance enabled Long Beach Memorial surgeons to better define the location and extent of the tumor, according to the company.