Neurosurgeons at Ochsner Lafayette General Medical Center are pioneering new technology for patients in need of complex brain surgeries. The technologies include precision brain mapping and 3D imaging, which can be used to navigate regions of the brain and complete complicated surgeries in less time than conventional procedures. With a recent brain tumor procedure, Ochsner Lafayette General Medical Center became the first hospital in Louisiana — and only the second location in the world — to utilize a GPS-like brain surgery system called BrightMatter™ Servo Solution.
This system, by Synaptive Medical, Inc., helps neurosurgeons navigate the brain’s 3D fiber tractography. Servo uses three elements — robotic-assisted lighting and optics, GPS-like guidance and navigation planning software — to help the neurosurgeon see the target.
Ochsner Lafayette General Medical Center was an ideal location to introduce the Servo innovation as it offered surgeons and patients a more complete surgical solution using a fully integrated approach to brain path surgery. In 2014, Ochsner Lafayette General Medical Center was designated by NICO Corp. as a BrainPath Center for utilizing its “Six Pillar Approach” to brain surgery using BrainPath technology.
Used in conjunction with BrightMatter Servo, BrainPath allows the surgeon to access the abnormality where it can then be removed through a narrow corridor using an opening the size of a dime. Ochsner Lafayette General Medical Center has been using BrainPath since February 2014 and was one of the first hospitals in the country to adopt the technology.
The Benefits of BrightMatter™ Servo Solution
As just the second hospital in the world with this amazing technology, Ochsner Lafayette General Medical Center Neurosurgeons now have a surgical tool that offers more information to plan complex procedures. Brain surgeries are very delicate operations and this system provides opportunities to decrease trauma to the brain and minimize risk to the patient’s brain function.
By integrating digital mapping and 3D imaging, BrightMatter Servo provides a neurosurgeon with optimized visualization, piloted by an automated tracking system outfitted with a surgical scope.
The robotic arm repositions the light and optics for the surgeon, which offers several advantages. It saves time, as the surgeon can now change the position of the light with a tap of a foot pedal to view the surgical field. Previously, a surgeon would have to pause during surgery to manually readjust and re-secure the light. Up to 50% of surgical time was spent configuring the light prior to Servo. Less time in surgery reduces stress on the patient, lessens the risks of infection and allows the surgeon to be more focused for the duration of the surgery.
In addition to improved lighting, the 3D tractography of the brain’s fibers allows the surgeon more efficient navigation of the brain. Through combined planning, 3D visualization and the tracking elements of the system, a surgeon has more information, which provides better options in planning and performing the surgery.
Learn more about the components that make up BrightMatter Servo, developed to support BrainPath, by NICO Corp., a medical device manufacturer in Indianapolis. The Servo system may also be used in conventional surgery.
For more information about BrightMatter Servo, please call 337-289-8282.
