Almost as if plucked from the fertile mind of a science fiction writer, PSVMC Neurosurgical Services will leap light years ahead technologically with the recent approval of an intraoperative MRI (iMRI). The world's most advanced MRI will allow a fusion of real-time imaging with brain surgery, enhancing our ability to safely and completely remove brain tumors in eloquent or deep areas of the brain.

The iMRI system allows the surgical team to image the patient during surgery without moving the patient to a different suite for scanning. The patient's head position is never compromised; surgical access to the patient is never jeopardized; and the magnet is completely removed from the OR when scanning is complete.

The multi-year effort, led by neurosurgeon Daniel Rohrer, M.D., medical director of cranial services at PSVMC; Tom Lorish, M.D., medical director of neurosciences, orthopedics and rehabilitation; and Bonnie Smith, administrative director of Providence Brain Institute, culminated in recent approval of plans to install a large-bore 1.5 Tesla mobile (ceiling track mounted) MRI in a PSVMC neurosurgery operating room. Further integrated with microscopy and three-dimensional image guidance, the iMRI suite will be the most technologically advanced neurosurgery operating suite on the West Coast. In fact, only 16 medical centers in the world will house similar iMRI capabilities. Providence Medical Foundation was instrumental in providing funding for this visionary project.

Construction of the suite began in 2008. When the equipment is installed and clinical use begins in 2009, PSVMC will become a demonstration site for IMRIS, the company providing the technology and supervising construction and installation. "As our luminary site in the west, medical teams from Asia and the West Coast will go to Providence St. Vincent to learn about the iMRI neurosurgical suite," said David Graves, president and CEO of IMRIS.