FORT MYERS
New technology, comparable to the navigation system for self-driving vehicles, is helping patients with back pain, the leading reason for impairment for people under 65. An approximated 500,000 back spine surgeries are done every year, and this innovation is improving precision and patient safety in the operating room.
For 66-year-old Sam Demaria, this is a triumph. Demaria has been dealing with persistent back pain for 15 years. He had six back surgical treatments throughout the years; the first five brought momentary relief, but then he ‘d be laid up again.
“The only comfort I had remained in my bed, on my back, with pillows under my leg– that was it,” Demaria stated. “If I came downstairs, I lasted 5 minutes; went right back upstairs.”
“He had scoliosis and multi-level, basically, numerous nerves that were getting compressed in numerous places,” said Dr. Jeremy Steinberger, a neurosurgeon at Mount Sinai Hospital.
Steinberger and his group carried out Demaria’s 6th surgery, but this time they had a brand-new navigation system using device vision innovation.
“You can essentially touch a probe to the patient, and you see where you are on the patient’s spine,” Steinberger said.
Machine vision technology is similar to the technology and sophisticated software application utilized in self-driving cars and trucks. In a surgical suite, unique video cameras analyze the anatomy and develop a 3D image. A light overhead takes a flash image. In four seconds, it gives surgeons thousands of fiducial indicate register a client’s CT scans.
“That’s what connects the client to the technology, which’s when you can check to validate that you’re precise,” Steinberger stated.
“I was pain-free after the surgery,” Demaria stated. “I’m standing up straight, which’s what I wished to accomplish.”
Demaria states he is moving better than he has in years.
One added advantage to the innovation: The new navigation system does not need a patient to have fluoroscopy medical imaging that needs a continuous X-ray image on a monitor, hence decreasing radiation.