Neuro navigation
The grey mass of the brain offers hardly any orientation landmarks for the eye of the neurosurgeon. If the tumour is not located directly on the surface but deeply within the brain tissue, the surgeon can reach the tumour quicker and easier with the help of neuro navigation.
Before surgery starts, a computer tomography (CT) or a magnetic resonance tomography (MRT) of the head is obtained. Hereby, special self-adhesive markers are fixed on the patient’s head. With the help of these markers, the position of specific brain areas on the scans may be correlated with their definite position in the brain. These attained image data are transferred into the neuro navigation system, which again processes the data into a virtual coordinate system.
Before surgery starts, a computer tomography (CT) or a magnetic resonance tomography (MRT) of the head is obtained. Hereby, special self-adhesive markers are fixed on the patient’s head. With the help of these markers, the position of specific brain areas on the scans may be correlated with their definite position in the brain. These attained image data are transferred into the neuro navigation system, which again processes the data into a virtual coordinate system.
The surgical instruments can also be located with the infrared camera. These again can be aligned with the image data of the navigation system. With the operation microscope, the neurosurgeon can switch back und forth between real image and virtual image or put one on top of each other during intervention.
Neuro navigation in spine surgery
In case of difficult anatomic situations, neuro navigation is used also for spine procedures. During surgery, image data similar to a CT are produced with a 3 D X-ray fluoroscopic C-arm. These image data are transferred to the navigation system. The employed instruments and the patient’s position are followed by the 3 D camera of the navigation system. Thus, the implantation of screws, for example, can be planned and placed with millimetre precision.
Prof. Dr. Ulrich Hubbe, MD
Senior neurosurgeon
Prof. Dr. Jan-Helge Klingler, MD
Senior neurosurgeon
Consultation hours for spine surgery