REAL-TIME MONITORING OF LASER DISKECTOMIES WITH A SUPERCONDUCTING, OPEN-CONFIGURATION MR SYSTEM

OBJECTIVE. The objective of our study was to assess the ability of a 0 .5-T superconducting, open-configuration MR system to guide laser disk ectomies. The study was performed ex vivo on six human cadavers as wel l as in vivo on three patients. CONCLUSION. The macroscopic size of ne crosis correlated well with the monitored temperature spread (r(2) = . 76-.85). After MR-guided introduction of the laser fiber into the targ eted disk space, temperature spread was visualized in all subjects.