PROGRAMS | image guided therapy

Program Leaders: Ferenc Jolesz, MD; Ron Kikinis, MD

Surgeons and interventionalists need the best information available to support their decisions. Due to the lapse of time, changes in position, natural motion, difficulties in sensing, the impact of the procedure (tissue displacement and removal), and other factors, pre-procedural images and models are not often correct after a procedure has begun. Tools that leverage the application of pre-procedural and real-time image-based information to the tightly coupled processes of diagnosis and therapy are vital.

Image Guided Therapy (IGT) techniques lead to improved outcomes, shorter hospitalizations, and improved quality and speed of surgical procedures. By providing precise ways to “visualize” intra-procedural anatomical changes in real time, IGT clarifies surgeons’ understanding of patients’ anatomy and enables minimally invasive surgery to be performed inside solid organs. These improvements and optimizations enable surgeons to make more sound decisions based on accurate data — sometimes the crucial difference between life and death.

Clinical Problem: Provide physicians who perform minimally invasive procedures with high-resolution, three-dimensional images of the operating field in real time.

CIMIT Solutions:

Design and construction of first advanced, image-guided operating room, which incorporates multiple state-of-the-art imaging systems such as 3T MRI, PET/CT, and optical imaging.
Development of noninvasive, focused ultrasound treatment for ablation of brain tumors.
Development of MRI-guided cardiac ablation, an effective treatment for heart rhythm abnormalities.

The IGT program is undertaking several new projects this year, including:

Epilepsy Surgery Planning
CT Image Registration
CT-guided Cochlear Implants
CT-guided Needle Biopsies
Non-invasive Focused Ultrasound Surgery of Brain Tumors
MRI-guided Cardiac Ablation PET/CT Guided Biopsy
CT-guided Cryoablation Multimodality Image Guided Endoscopy

The AMIGO is now being installed at
Brigham and Women's Hospital

A major new project is the Advanced Multimodality Image Guided Operating (AMIGO) Room, now being installed at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Several state of the art imaging systems(3T MRI, PET/CT, Fluoroscopy, Ultrasound, etc.) will be linked by a patient table system in a sterile operating environment so that advanced image guided procedures using multiple modalities may be invented and optimized. Read about AMIGO and other OR of the Future Initiatives.