European medics first to use new image-guided brain surgery technology

Published: 19-Dec-2011

Breakthrough in neurosurgery


Medics in Germany have become the first in the world to perform brain surgery using a new image-guided system.

Clinicians at Kilinikum rechts der Isar in Munich have broken new ground using Brainlab’s Curve Image-Guided Surgery technology, which has been designed to provide surgeons with the best possible guidance and control and offer more precise and safer interventions and better patient outcomes.

Commenting on the impact it is making at the hospital, Professor Bernhard Meyer, chairman of the neurosurgery department, said: “We are extremely happy to be able to use the Curve system to support surgery as we believe it can offer advantages for both patients and medical staff. Curve is much more user-friendly than any other surgical navigation system we have used before and offers tools that will help improve outcomes for our patients. For example, having ultra-fast access to updated images in the operating room allows us to make informed decisions on the spot and have the best-possible intra-operative control.”

The new navigation platform has multiple interfaces to support image sharing and enhancement and its streaming option enables surgeons to transfer live images to a PC outside the operating room, allowing other experts to view surgery as it happens. Brainlab’s clinical online network Quentry further supports safe and fast sharing of patient data with colleagues around the world via cloud computing.

Other benefits include a motorised camera that can be adjusted at any point during the intervention using steering buttons on the monitor, plus eight multidirectional wheels with cable deflectors which allow medical staff to rapidly manoeuvre it in and out of the operating room as required.

Stefan Vilsmeier, chief executive and president of Brainlab, said: “When we started developing Curve, we set ourselves the goal to overcome the barriers of traditional navigation in the operating room. Our new navigation platform connects the operating room to the outside world through various interfaces. Surgeons can share and enrich data or consult with other medical experts at any time so that image-guided surgery is now becoming information-guided surgery.”

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