Using real-time MRI during brain surgery

MIT Technology Review : One common use of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is to take pictures of the brain so that doctors can plan surgeries. However, between the imaging and the surgery, the brain can shift position, requiring further imaging that interrupts the surgery. Several companies have now produced real-time MRI options that allow surgeons to directly monitor their progress while they are operating. Currently, the most common such system is produced by MRI Interventions, which has installed 25 of them so far. It combines a standard MRI scanner with a platform, which is attached to the patient’s skull, for guiding surgical tools and implants. During MRI, the platform shows up as a grid pattern overlaid on the brain, and software shows where the surgical instruments are relative to the grid. Having direct view of where the instruments are located obviates the need for patients to be awake and responsive, which is one way surgeons currently track where their tools are. The system is also being used experimentally in cancer biopsies and treatments to track needles inserted into the skull.