Neurosurgeons at
Boston Children's Hospital will remove a brain tumor employing functional mapping of the cortex on a 13-year-old pediatric patient during a live Webcast.
The Webcast will feature
Boston Children's intraoperative
MRI system, known as the MR-OR, the first and only system of its kind at a pediatric hospital in the country.
Developed by
IMRIS, the iSPACE surgical imaging suite captures digital images through a unique, ceiling-mounted, movable
MRI scanner that can be used to take high-resolution, real-time patient scans before, during and after a surgical procedure. This advanced technology allows surgeons to determine the extent of a tumor while the patient is undergoing surgery to ensure its accurate removal.
"Unlike other intraoperative MR machines, the mobile MRI lets surgeons use their usual metal surgical tools because the unit is moved into the shielded garage when surgeons are operating," says
Joseph R.
Madsen, MD, a neurosurgeon in the
Department of Neurosurgery at Boston Children's Hospital and associate professor of
Surgery at
Harvard Medical School.
Dr. Madsen will operate on a patient with oligodendroglioma, a low-grade tumor arising from glial cells in the central nervous system. The tumor lies near motor and sensory areas of the brain, which will require electrocorticography and physiological tests to map the normal brain around the tumor before the surgery.
Once the mapping has been completed, Dr. Madsen will then perform a microsurgical resection of the tumor.
Brain tumors are the most common solid tumors in children—approximately
1,800 are diagnosed in the
United States each year.
Today, more than half of all children diagnosed with a brain tumor will be cured of the disease. The most effective form of treatment is the surgical removal of all or part of the tumor without jeopardizing any of the brain's critical functions. In order to decide which areas of the tumor can safely be removed, neurosurgeons use the technique of brain mapping.
"
The cutting edge of neurosurgery is to identify and remove as much of the undesirable pathologically damaging brain tissue without disturbing the functioning areas of the brain," says Dr. Madsen. "Through the use of physiological mapping and the MR-OR, we are able to achieve this and assure our patients the best possible surgical outcomes."
Dr. Madsen will be assisted by neurologist
Frank H.
Duffy, MD, radiologist
Caroline Robson, MB, ChB, and associate anesthesiologist-in-chief
Mark A. Rockoff, MD. They will also serve as Webcast commentators, providing additional information about the procedure throughout the surgery.
Moderating the live broadcast will be neurosurgeon Mark R.
Proctor, MD. Neurosurgeon-in-chief R.
Michael Scott, MD, will introduce the Webcast and offer insight into pediatric brain tumors. Liliana C. Goumnerova, MD, and Mark Kieran, MD, PhD, the surgical and medical directors of the
Brain Tumor Clinic, a collaborative program with
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, will also be on-hand to discuss the neuro-oncological aspects of the procedure, while
Craig D. McClain, MD, and
Keith Ligon, MD, will comment on the anesthesia and neuropathology, respectively. An 11-year-old brain tumor patient, who recently underwent a similar procedure in the MR-OR, and his family will also answer questions during the Webcast.
Founded in
1869 as a 20-bed hospital for children, Boston Children's Hospital today is the nation's leading pediatric medical center, the largest provider of health care to
Massachusetts children, and the primary pediatric teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School. In addition to 347 pediatric and adolescent inpatient beds and comprehensive outpatient programs, Boston Children's houses the world's largest research enterprise based at a pediatric medical center, where its discoveries benefit both children and adults. More than
500 scientists, including eight members of the
National Academy of Sciences, nine members of the
Institute of Medicine and 11 members of the
Howard Hughes Medical Institute comprise Boston Children's research community. For more information about the hospital visit:
http://www.childrenshospital.org/newsroom
IMRIS Inc. designs and manufactures advanced surgical imaging systems for use in cranial, spinal and general surgery applications. IMRIS is focused exclusively on providing fully integrated surgical imaging solutions that support the effectiveness of the surgical team. For more information about the IMRIS iSPACE™ solution visit: www.imris.com
- published: 25 Jul 2012
- views: 43984