Results of 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, St. Louis and Minneapolis and St Paul, currently using Visius iMRI are approaching 1,000 cases performed.
Frederick Boop, co-director of the Le Bonheur Neuroscience Institute in Memphis, USA, credits VISIUS iMRI with reducing reoperation rates. “Intraoperative MRI is an important tool in our paediatric programme by allowing us to get a more complete removal of these tumours and better overall visualisation without moving the patient and knowing we will not have to bring the patient back for another operation,” he says.
Imris president and CEO Jay D Miller states that the company estimates the volume will be almost 17,000 by the end of 2014, an increase of around 31% in one year over the previous eight years.
“With increasing adoption and utilisation, more neurosurgeons and hospitals are recognising the decision support advantage of enhanced visualisation in the intraoperative setting and reduced risks associated with not moving patients for imaging,” he says.
“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 adds, “but also expanding the types of applications and conditions other than various brain tumours, 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 iMRI. Also, the recent addition of Visius iCT expands our solution into spinal conditions, trauma and intricate reconstructions.”
According to the company, 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 imaging, during the procedure from the operating room table. The MRI and CT imaging solution are said by the company to move on ceiling-mounted rails to enter or exit the operating room which mitigates known risks of moving critically-ill patients.
Surgeons using iMRI for brain tumour removal have reported outcomes of more complete resection and reduced paediatric re-operation rates. Data published in 2011 shows 93% of iMRI glioma cases achieved gross or near total resection compared to 65% for non-iMRI cases in the same timeframe. A separate study indicated the need for repeat surgeries decreased with 8% of non-iMRI patients requiring re-operation within two weeks post procedure compared to zero re-surgeries for iMRI patients.
