What Happens During Image Guided Surgery?

If your doctor plans to use image guidance during your surgery, ask about the different systems available that would best achieve the desired results for your specific brain tumor and diagnosis. Different systems offer different options and depending upon your diagnosis – tumor type, size, location, you may benefit from one versus another treatment approach.

Image guided surgery begins before any incision has been made with the patient getting certain diagnostic images which are used in treatment planning with the IGS system. Navigation gives the surgeon additional visual guidance and allows for a more successful and targeted brain tumor surgery.

Naturally, while your surgeon is using intra-operative image guided surgery tools, you would be under anesthesia. It may be interesting and perhaps comforting to know the basic steps involved in an image guided brain tumor operation.

Steps Overview

  1. Diagnostic Scan and Treatment Planning (Outside the OR)
  2. Patient Preparation and Registration (inside the OR)
  3. Surgery Using Image Guided Surgery / Neuronavigation
  4. Post-Operative Scans and Follow-up

Download image guided surgery steps PDF »