2014 procedures expected to increase 31% over 8-year total as intraoperative MRI utilization expands to improve outcomes in growing number of neurosurgical applications

MINNEAPOLIS /CNW/ - IMRIS Inc. (NASDAQ: IMRS) (TSX: IM) ("IMRIS" or the "Company") today announced that an internal study of 40 worldwide VISIUS® Surgical Theatre hospital customers indicates that nearly 13,000 patients have been treated using intraoperative MRI (iMRI) since the first installation in 2005. Four of 27 US hospitals - located in Boston, MA; St. Louis, MO; and Minneapolis and St. Paul, MN - currently using VISIUS iMRI are approaching 1,000 cases performed.

Dr. Frederick Boop, Co-director of the Le Bonheur Neuroscience Institute in Memphis, TN, credits VISIUS iMRI with reducing reoperation rates. "Intraoperative MRI is an important tool in our pediatric program by allowing us to get a more complete removal of these tumors and better overall visualization without moving the patient and knowing we won't have to bring the patient back for another operation," he said.
With more installations coming online and procedure numbers growing steadily, IMRIS President and CEO Jay D. Miller said the company estimates the volume will be almost 17,000 by the end of 2014, an increase of roughly 31% in one year over the previous eight years. "With increasing adoption and utilization, more neurosurgeons and hospitals are recognizing the decision support advantage of enhanced visualization in the intraoperative setting and reduced risks associated with not moving patients for imaging," he said.

"The top neurosurgical hospitals are making the IMRIS solution their standard of care and not only increasing the number of procedures completed in the suite," Miller added, "but also expanding the types of applications and conditions other than various brain tumors, such as epilepsy, Parkinson's disease, stroke intervention, aneurysm, and Chiari malformation, and other neurological procedures using deep brain stimulation, ablation and other technologies with iMR. Also, the recent addition of VISIUS iCT expands our solution into spinal conditions, trauma and intricate reconstructions."

Inside a VISIUS Surgical Theatre equipped with either high-field iMRI or 64-slice intraoperative Computed Tomography (iCT), surgeons have on-demand access to real-time data and state-of-the-art imaging, during the procedure from the operating room (OR) table. IMRIS is the only company that offers an MRI and CT imaging solution where the scanner moves on ceiling-mounted rails to enter or exit the OR which mitigates known risks of moving critically-ill patients.

More HCB News