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Robotically Controlled Digital Microscope Provides Neurosurgeons New Visualization System in Operating Room

Robotically Controlled Digital Microscope Provides Neurosurgeons New Visualization System in Operating Room

  • Robotically Controlled Digital Microscope Provides Neurosurgeons New Visualization System in Operating Room

    New York (May 23, 2018) — The Department of Neurosurgery at the Mount Sinai Health System is one of the first hospitals in the country to use Modus V™, a hands-free, robotically controlled digital microscope that provides advanced visualization in the operating room. The system features a robotic arm with a high-definition camera that projects digital images of neuroanatomy on larger monitors. The system is an alternative to the traditional operating microscope, a mainstay in modern neurosurgery that features an ocular, or eyepiece, used by the surgeon to see magnified images of the brain.

    “This technology sets the stage for the next generation of digital image-based neurosurgery,” said Constantinos Hadjipanayis, MD, PhD, Professor and Site Chair of Neurosurgery at Mount Sinai Union Square and Director of Neurosurgical Oncology for the Mount Sinai Health System. “The device allows us to have an enlarged view of the tissues that we’re operating on and use a robotic arm to adjust the position in a manner that provides better visualization.”

    Modus V is developed by Synaptive Medical Inc., a medical device and technology company. The system is the cornerstone of Synaptive’s BrightMatter platform, which integrates navigation, robotic automation, a digital microscope, and data analytics.

    “High-definition images of brain tractography, fibers inside the central nervous system that control movement and function, improve our ability to navigate in the brain with our surgical instruments,” says Dr. Hadjipanayis.

    During a recent case of a 46-year-old patient with a glioma near the language portion of his brain, Dr. Hadjipanayis monitored and stimulated the patient’s language tracks during surgery, which allowed him to preserve speech as he removed the tumor.

    “As critical information streams into multiple viewpoints in the operating room, much like in the cockpit of an aircraft, the surgeon’s goal is to utilize that information and move beyond critical structures, preserve neurologic function, and safely perform the procedure,” says Joshua Bederson, MD, Professor and System Chair for the Department of Neurosurgery at Mount Sinai Health System and Clinical Director of the Neurosurgery Simulation Core. 

    Dr. Bederson is a leader in the use of augmented reality and navigation technology in the operating room. He says one advantage to projecting real-time images of the brain onto a video screen is that information sources from outside the microscope can be overlaid on the monitor.

    “This technology takes us one step closer to our ultimate goal of improving patient outcomes,” says Dr. Bederson.

    About the Mount Sinai Health System
    The Mount Sinai Health System is New York City’s largest integrated delivery system encompassing seven hospital campuses, a leading medical school, and a vast network of ambulatory practices throughout the greater New York region. Mount Sinai’s vision is to produce the safest care, the highest quality, the highest satisfaction, the best access and the best value of any health system in the nation. The System includes approximately 7,100 primary and specialty care physicians; 10 joint-venture ambulatory surgery centers; more than 140 ambulatory practices throughout the five boroughs of New York City, Westchester, Long Island, and Florida; and 31 affiliated community health centers. The Icahn School of Medicine is one of three medical schools that have earned distinction by multiple indicators: ranked in the top 20 by U.S. News & World Report’s “Best Medical Schools”, aligned with a U.S. News & World Report’s “Honor Roll” Hospital, No. 13 in the nation for National Institutes of Health funding, and among the top 10 most innovative research institutions as ranked by the journal Nature in its Nature Innovation Index. This reflects a special level of excellence in education, clinical practice, and research. The Mount Sinai Hospital is ranked No. 18 on U.S. News & World Report’s “Honor Roll” of top U.S. hospitals; it is one of the nation’s top 20 hospitals in Cardiology/Heart Surgery, Diabetes/Endocrinology, Gastroenterology/GI Surgery, Geriatrics, Nephrology, and Neurology/Neurosurgery, and in the top 50 in four other specialties in the 2017-2018 “Best Hospitals” issue. Mount Sinai’s Kravis Children’s Hospital also is ranked in six out of ten pediatric specialties by U.S. News & World Report. The New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai is ranked 12th nationally for Ophthalmology and 50th for Ear, Nose, and Throat, while Mount Sinai Beth Israel, Mount Sinai St. Luke’s and Mount Sinai West are ranked regionally.

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