MAGNETIC-RESONANCE-IMAGING THERAPY - INTRAOPERATIVE MR-IMAGING

The field of image-guided neurosurgery has developed under the premise that integrating the enhanced discrimination powers of CT scan and MR imaging into the operating room improves the accuracy, safety and pre cision of neurosurgery, and expand the realm of surgically treatable l esions. Through cooperation between General Electric Corporation and t he Brigham and Women's Hospital, an open-configuration MR suite was de signed and implemented to attain these goals through real-time, intrao perative MR imaging in a true surgical suite. This system allows intra operative acquisition of MR images without moving the patient, online image-guided stereotaxy without preoperative imaging, and ''real-time' ' tracking of instruments in the operative field registered to the MR images. The design and implementation of neurosurgery in the open-conf iguration MR imaging suite are summarized in this article.