IGS or neuronavigation, supports minimally invasive procedures, improves patient outcome and preserves neurological function. This, in return, reduces the length of hospitalization, increase patient flow and reduces the risk of revision surgeries. These are all factors where neuronavigation contributes to the reduction of overall hospital cost.
Image-guided surgery (IGS) is used to plan and perform surgery minimally invasive, such as a brain tumor removal or a brain biopsy. During a neuronavigation procedure, instrument movement inside the brain can be tracked on the monitor with millimeter accuracy, helping to avoid surrounding healthy tissue and critical areas as much as possible. Countless surgeons have commented and research shows many benefits to IGS:
The real-time display of instrument location, orientation and relationship to nearby structures in the brain has been demonstrated to enhance the confidence of surgeons and their perception of safety.
Image guided surgery is designed to help surgeons target the brain tumor with pinpoint accuracy. Accurately locating and removing the brain tumor is important and helps surgeons to preserve the patient’s brain functions after surgery. Studies have shown that functional neuronavigation can improve surgical outcomes for complex surgeries.
It has been demonstrated that functional neuronavigation improves surgical outcomes, particularly for complex surgeries.3,4,5
1 US National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health
2 Wadley J et al. Pre-operative planning and intra-operative guidance in modern neurosurgery: a review of 300 cases. Ann R Coll Surg Engl. 1999 Jul;81(4):217-25.
3 Nimsky et al. Implementation of fiber tract navigation. Neurosurgery. 2006 Apr;58:ONS-292-303; discussion ONS-303-4.
4 Thudium MO et al. The basal temporal approach for mesial temporal surgery: sparing the meyer loop with navigated diffusion tensor tractography. Neurosurgery. 2010 Dec;67:385-90
5 Chen X et al. Diffusion tensor imaging and white matter tractography in patients with brainstem lesions. Acta Neurochir (Wien). 2007 Nov;149(11):1117-31
