Advanced Imaging for Back Pain
Surgeons at Morristown Medical Center are making back pain and scoliosis treatment easier with technology that enables them to essentially see through the skin into the patient’s spinal canal.
A New Approach to Treating Severe Scoliosis
For patients with severe scoliosis, for which surgical correction is necessary, surgeons at the Scoliosis and Spinal Deformity Center at Morristown Medical Center were the first in the nation to use a new type of portable CT scanner to guide their surgery and actually “see” inside the spinal canal during surgery.
The procedure is done minimally invasively, placing a tiny thorascopic camera into the chest through a small incision to visualize the spine on a video monitor, and then using Stryker’s Airo TruCT Mobile Imaging system to obtain a CT scan of the patient during the surgery. Using these images with Stryker’s navigation software, as well as direct thorascopic camera visualization, spinal screws can be placed into the spine using real-time CT guided navigation. This allows the screws to be safely and accurately placed into the spine.
The use of advanced intraoperative imaging helps enable surgeons to perform the least invasive surgical correction possible for the patient, which can result in less postoperative pain and a quicker recovery time when compared to more conventional treatments.
Benefits of Stryker’s Airo TruCT Mobile Imaging
- Provides intuitive visual access to difficult-to-reach spinal canal
- Airo TruCT can give surgeons real time pre- and post-operative knowledge in the operating room
Benefits of Minimally Invasive Spinal Surgery
- Potential for less blood loss, less chance of infection and shorter recovery times
- Potential for shorter hospitalizations than traditional open surgery
Conditions We Can Image With Airo TruCT
- Degenerative disc disease
- Herniated disc
- Sciatica
- Scoliosis (pediatric and adult)
- Spinal deformities (e.g., kyphosis, scoliosis, etc.)
- Spinal stenosis
- Spinal trauma
- Spinal tumors
- Spondylolisthesis
Grace R.'s Story
For Grace R., a scoliosis diagnosis at age 12 marked the start of a long and painful journey. She endured four separate surgeries at a hospital in her home state of Virginia. Not only couldn’t she find relief, but she also developed additional problems, including leg numbness and kyphosis. Frustrated, Grace searched the internet for a new doctor anywhere in the U.S. Grace chose Jason Lowenstein, MD with Morristown Medical Center, who specializes in spinal revision surgeries for children and adults.
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