Kristin Henry had a brain tumour removed 14 years ago.
What she – and surgeons – didn’t expect, was that some of the mass remained.
“It turns out it was still a tumour, which I didn’t find out until just this last year,” Henry said.
Over the years she experienced severe migraines that doctors attributed to the small piece of tumour that remained in her brain.
“It was just really sharp, stabbing pains. Nothing would help,” Henry said. “It was pretty tough. I would leave work sometimes because they would get so bad.”
So Henry, 29, had to undergo surgery to remove the tumour – again.
In January, just a month after her wedding, Henry became one of the first patients to undergo brain surgery using a six-tonne MRI.
“My life has been nothing but better since then,” she said.
“I have no headaches.”
The procedure took place at what’s being called the most advanced surgical suite in Canada.
The Dan and Bunny Widney Intra-operative Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) Surgical Suite at the University of Alberta can transform from an operating room to a diagnostic MRI suite in just minutes.
“We’ve fused the surgeons hands with the radiologists eyes and putting those together we can take things out and improve patient care,” said Dr. Ravi Bhargava, a pediatric radiologist.
"You can look at this as a super GPS"
Typically, patients would have to wait months to have a scan to see if the entire tumour was removed.
With the new technology, radiologists can immediately give surgeons exact directions to where any remaining tumour is located.
“Now we can do that while they’re still asleep on the operating room table. That allows us if there’s any piece left, we can show the neurosurgeons where that piece of tumour is, they can then go in and take it out while the patient is still asleep,” Bhargava said.
“The machine basically allows us to find things and localize things, so in a way, you can look at this as a super GPS.”
Many possibilities with new machine
The machine is currently mainly being used for brain surgery, but eventually will expand to help other patients.
“There are other possibilities. This machine can image all the way down to the neck so any of the complicated tumours or disorders of the tongue and the mouth and the skull base that need to be removed, can be done in here with image guidance,” said Dr. Keith Aronyk, clinical department head for neurosciences with Alberta Health Services.
The new $10.7 million suite, funded by the province, the University Hospital Foundation, and the Stollery Children’s Hospital Foundation, also includes features aimed at enhancing quality of care and patient safety, including:
- Copper walls to prevent interference from other machines on the floor and from cell phones.
- Lights are designed not to produce shadows, which optimizes visibility during surgery.
- The suite size, shape and layout can accommodate large surgical teams and provide quick, easy access to the specialized equipment.
It took three operating rooms to create space for the surgical suite.
Surgeons said they had to scan Henry a few times to ensure the plum-sized tumour was completely gone.
After hours on the operating table, they believe this time – it is and that's great news for Henry.
“It’s just a relief to know it’s all going to be done after this,” Henry said.
“Everything is going to be better.”
So far 10 brain surgeries have been performed on the new machine and soon doctors plan to perform a head and neck surgery on a child.
With files from Carmen Leibel
