The Department of Neurosurgery offers state-of-the-art surgical treatment for patients with brain tumors. One of the techniques that neurosurgeons use at Roswell Park is computer-assisted or “stereotactic” craniotomy.

 

Roswell Park neurosurgeons have extensive experience with this technique, which uses a computer to help the neurosurgeon navigate to the site of the tumor. It then assists the neurosurgeon in performing as complete a removal of the tumor as can be accomplished safely.

On the day of surgery, the patient undergoes a MRI scan to visualize the brain tumor. Then, the neurosurgeon uses specialized computer software to manipulate these images and to simulate the brain tumor operation before actually entering the operating room.

Later, during the surgical procedure itself, neurosurgeons can point a special probe at any spot within the surgical field. A high-speed computer reveals the corresponding position of the pointer tip on the MRI scan, which is displayed on a large computer screen in the operating room. Thus, the neurosurgeon is provided with exact information regarding the position of the tip of the surgical probe in “real-time”.

Because tumors can be located precisely with this technique, in some cases neurosurgeons can operate through smaller openings in the skull. Also, precise localization of normal structures by this method can add a margin of safety. Since some brain tumors are difficult to distinguish from normal brain tissue by direct vision alone, the image-guided stereotactic probe can assist the neurosurgeon in determining where the boundary between tumor and brain resides.