In Helen Powell’s case, slip interface imaging helped her surgeon determine that despite having a challenging, firm tumor, he could remove most of it in one surgery and attack the rest with radiation. And, he could extract it through her nose rather than performing a craniotomy. That cut risk of rare but also significant potential complications like stroke or blindness.

For Powell, it was an answer to her prayers. For 3½ years before her diagnosis at Mayo Clinic, no doctor or medical center could figure out what was wrong. She suffered constant shoulder and joint pain, was nauseated most of the time and was slowly losing her eyesight. She was so uncomfortable that she slept in a recliner most nights. She thought she might die. After surgery, she noticed a dramatic change.


“When I woke up, I could see again. My shoulders didn’t hurt anymore and I didn’t have any more joint pain. I could walk and think again. It was a miracle,” she says.

Powell has recovered enough to return to her hobby of making beaded jewelry. And, she says she feels well enough to travel across the country to visit her adult children.

The Center for Individualized Medicine Imaging Biomarker Discover Program at Mayo Clinic provided the funding and support to bring the MRE and slip interface to patients at Mayo Clinic. The Center for Individualized Medicine collaborates closely in research and practice across many disciplines at Mayo Clinic to apply a comprehensive team science approach to patient care. According to Keith Stewart, M.B., Ch.B., Carlson and Nelson Endowed Director, Mayo Clinic Center for Individualized Medicine, this new imaging technology advances an individualized approach to surgery that patients can’t get anywhere else.

“The Center for Individualized Medicine supports Mayo Clinic’s efforts to seamlessly move breakthrough therapies and critical advances in patient care from the research lab to the doctor’s practice so more patients can benefit from the promise of individualized medicine,” says Dr. Stewart, who is also the Anna Maria and Vasek Polak Professor of Cancer Research Division of Hematology-Oncology at Mayo Clinic.

The research paper was funded partly through a grant from the National Institutes of Health.

Authors on the study from Mayo Clinic are:

Ziying Yin, Ph.D.
Joshua Hughes, M.D.
Kevin Glaser, Ph.D.
Armando Manduca, Ph.D.
Jamie Van Gompel, M.D.
Michael Link, M.D.
Richard Ehman, M.D.*
Dr. Huston, M.D.
Additional collaborator:

Anthony Romano, Ph.D., U.S. Naval Research Laboratory
*Dr. Ehman is the Blanche R. and Richard J. Erlanger Professorship in Medical Research

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