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Imagine being wheeled into an operation on a gurney and your surgery has already
been performed. You see the anesthesiologist and just before you go to sleep,
notice two machines just beyond the sterile field. It’s not R2D2 or C3PO. It
is the StealthStation TREON Treatment Guidance System, and your surgery is sitting
in this sophisticated, advanced computer system. Why? The surgeons placed it there.
The pre-op CT scan of your spine was fed into the advanced computing software and
the surgeons, calling up 3-D modeling of your spine anatomy, practiced the
sophisticated surgical plan hours to days before the event.
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You are asleep now but the StealthStation is waking up. After you have been
positioned for surgery, all the components for applying 3-D surgical navigation
surround you: the StealthStation and high performance computer, touch screen
monitor, camera registering LED’s (light emitting diodes) and specialized
surgery tools with LED emitting devices.
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A sophisticated C-arm registers your spinal anatomy with the computer and suddenly,
as your surgeon touches your spine with the surgery tools, the computer produces
the 3-D images on the computer’s touchscreen. Wherever the surgeon places the
instrument on your spine anatomy, the computer follows with an instantaneous 3-D
image. With the assistance of real time imaging, your surgeon can track your anatomy
and navigate the third dimension. This is particularly helpful in allowing the surgeon
to visualize the anatomy when performing minimally invasive spine surgery or placing
pedicle screws into the vertebral bodies.
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Traditionally, X-rays taken in the operating room were used for “navigating the
patient’s anatomy.” Comparing two opposite views at 90 degrees, the surgeon
used knowledge of anatomy, and direct visualization to perform surgery. Now, with
sophisticated 3-D image tracking, multiple planes of view allow the surgeon
unparalleled accuracy.
When you wake up, your surgery performed with a much smaller incision, you can thank
the TREON now standing in the corner. The same technology that navigated the stars gave
your surgeon a tour of your anatomy.
Words © 2002 William Dillin, M.D.
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