by
Kathy Mahdoubi, Senior Correspondent | February 01, 2010
"That is the reason for introducing intraoperative MRI-to be able to update the system when you critically need it," says Dr. Farmer. "The accuracy is very, very good. If you have been able to do functional MRI fiber tracking on the patient before, you are able to fuse images with this new information and update your scan."
Dr. Farmer says Intraoperative MRI is also great with ear, nose and throat surgeries and orthopedic surgeries, and can be particularly helpful in spinal cord surgeries, assuring that surgeons are not dissecting too much or too little of this critical anatomy. The use of MR is also picking up for pediatric facilities, as frequent use of CT may be too risky for this patient population.
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"There is now a trend in pediatrics for using MR rather than CT," says Farmer. "There is some concern about cumulative radiation dose from repeated CT scans."
Montreal Children's is the first hospital in Canada and the first pediatric hospital to bring a 3T magnet into the OR. To complete the set-up, the OR was brought into the radiology department, where sliding doors connect the MR system to the OR and the iMRI docking table serves as both an OR surgical table and MRI couch. The whole interlocking system maintains sterile conditions fit for surgery.
Dr. Paul Burn,
Chair/Director of the
Sanford Project
The high-field MRI is multipurpose. When not in use during surgery, the Achieva is being used by researchers studying autism and cerebral palsy.
Farmer says that the new image-guided neurosurgery system is just a sign of what's to come. That's not the only developing news for the future though. The children's hospital is going to be moving into new a home within four years' time.
"This project is a glimpse into the future," says Dr. Farmer. "About 70 percent of this will be moved into the new facility."
The new location will help the hospital build a bridge with the McGill University Health Center to better utilize the resources there. Upon completion, Montreal Children's will gain access to a new cancer pavilion and radiation oncology department, as well as a women's health pavilion, where babies can be delivered on site.
