Thursday November 12, 1998
Imaging Technique Improves Brain Surgery - Magazine
LONDON (Reuters) - British researchers are working on a new imaging
technique to improve delicate brain surgery, New
Scientist magazine said Wednesday.
Microscope Assisted Guided Intervention (MAGI) allows surgeons to see
beneath the surface of the brain, which will minimize
the risk of intricate operations.
So far it has been used on seven patients who had skull surgery and
operations for ear, nose and throat problems.
Developed by scientists at Guy's Hospital in London, MAGI combines
magnetic resonance imaging and a technique called
computerized tomorgraphy, which uses cross sectional X-ray images, to
produce a three-dimensional computerized model of a
patient's brain.
The information, which is fed into a microscope and appears as an
overlay on the microscopic image, could reduce the risk of
the surgeon cutting a blood vessel or hitting a nerve and improves
accuracy in removing brain tumors.
``The advantage of viewing the image through a microscope is that it is
stereo. You have a different image for each eye,'' said
Philip Edwards, a computer scientist who worked on the project.
Markers placed on the patient's teeth allow MAGI to shift the image with
each movement of the head so it always corresponds
to where the surgeon is looking.
New Scientist said researchers are still refining the technique and hope
to use in other types of surgery using binocular
microscopes.
--
Judith Richards, London, Ontario, Canada
<[log in to unmask]>
^^^
\ /
\ | / Today’s Research
\\ | // ...Tomorrow’s Cure
\ | /
\|/
```````
