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A delicate safer operation Photo by Bob Pennell Surgeon Michael Potter and registered nurse Cleve Kendall prepare for surgery to remove a brain tumor Friday. The computer monitor in the background displays three-dimensional views of the patient's brain to help them plan the operation. Computer gives neurosurgeons new views BY KELLY STEWART Rogue Valley residents who need complicated brain or spinal surgery will no longer have to pack up for Portland to obtain treatment. With a new surgical tool -- a computer -- Providence Medford Medical Center is now able to make complex brain and spinal surgery safer, faster and less painful for patients. The StealthStation computer, the first in Southern Oregon, takes information from flat pictures of the brain and spine and transforms them into three-dimensional images. Using the $350,000 machine, surgeons are able to maneuver their instruments more precisely through the nervous system; the StealthStation can determine the positions of tumors and warn surgeons about the locations of nearby arteries and nerves. Michael Potter, a Medford neurosurgeon, used the StealthStation to help him remove a tumor from an 83-year-old Central Point man Friday afternoon. "It makes the process safer," Potter said before the surgery. "Before, I would have to look at X-rays to determine the target. This is taking a lot of the guesswork out of it." StealthStation matched the position of the patient's head with his CT scan before the surgery began. Potter removed a tumor at the base of the patient's brain. "The base of the skull is a very busy area" because the optic nerve and carotid artery run through it, Potter said. "The computer will assist me in knowing where these structures are." Because StealthStation allows surgeons to be so precise, it can cut surgery time by an hour, said Bill Houston, a distributor for Sofamor Danek, which manufactures the computer. The StealthStation uses infrared emitters positioned around the patient's head or body to track the location of the surgeon's probe. The machine even adjusts for any movement of the patient in the operating room. During the surgery, the computer displays black-and-white images of the patient's brain. Red cross-hairs in the on-screen show the location of the surgeon's probe. "We can put the pointer on the brain and see how far away we are (from the tumor)," Potter said. With a click of the mouse, the image rotates or displays a view of the brain from a different angle. Surgeons can use the system to plan the most desirable path through critical anatomy before entering the operating room. "It's going to be the coming future of surgery," Houston said. The machine has a margin of error of less than a millimeter and can display body matter five to 15 millimeters beyond the surgeon's tools, allowing for more precise cuts and less pain. Potter said the StealthStation will allow patients to stay in town with their families during their treatment. "We can keep patients in the valley that previously got sent to Portland," he said. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA