Neuronavigation in interventional MR imaging. Frameless stereotaxy

Abstract

The main thrust of diagnostic MR imaging is to discern normal and pathologic patient morphology and function. Intraprocedural imaging, however, serves a different goal: to furnish the surgeon or interventionalist with updates on intraoperative changes and how they may modify preintervention data. Although researchers have not established whether MR image-guided therapy can improve clinical outcomes and reduce complication rates definitively, the intraoperative and preoperative data generated will improve the ability of every neurosurgeon to navigate in the surgical field more accurately.