Healthbeat | Local neurosurgeon helps develop 'all-in-one' instrument set

Teresa McMinn, Cumberland Times-News, Md.
·2 min read

Apr. 27—CUMBERLAND — A UPMC Western Maryland neurosurgeon and his team combined independent techniques to reduce surgery time and increase safety for spinal patients.

The cutting-edge technology, which can be applied to various needs and allows for continuous nerve monitoring, includes imaging and 3D software in the operating room to navigate spinal surgery.

"We had to rewrite the book here," said Dr. Or Cohen-Inbar, chair of neurosurgery at UPMC Western Maryland.

He couldn't find a good quality instrument set to facilitate the procedures, so he worked with Israel-based Premia Spine to harness the technologies.

"We developed an all-in-one instrument set," Cohen-Inbar said of a navigated and neuromonitored pedicle driver. "We've been very active in that aspect."

Over the past few years, more than 500 patients, and 5,000-plus screws, have been placed using the technique, "making UPMC Western Maryland one of the leading institutions in this approach to the spine," he said.

Before combining the technologies, image quality was hazy for large patients, Cohen-Inbar said.

"The combination of poor bone quality from reasons such as osteoporosis and obesity reduce image quality and accuracy significantly," he said.

Since using the combined technology, more than 90% of patients stay in the hospital only one night after their surgery.

"It's been wonderful in terms of patient safety," Cohen-Inbar said.

For patients with traumatic brain injuries, use of CT scans during surgery can significantly reduce the typical hour it takes for a patient to be scanned outside the operating room.

"Within 10 minutes I know what needs to be done," Cohen-Inbar said.

He also talked of using cutting-edge microscopes, a digital arm and 3D glasses.

"The cutting-edge microscope, the Synaptive Exoscope, is for all purposes, both brain and spine," Cohen-Inbar said. "It allows for a navigated microscope mounted on a robotic arm, independent of the surgeon, with the surgeon and his assistant as well as everyone else in the room able to see everything on 3D screens or using 3D smart glasses."

All the equipment functions together in the operating room, he said.

"That is the real magic," Cohen-Inbar said.

"We constructed an integrated system in which the CT device directly communicates with the navigation system allowing for real time navigation," he said. "It is a team effort and a team approach."

Teresa McMinn is a reporter for the Cumberland Times-News. She can be reached at 304-639-2371 or tmcminn@times-news.com.