A new state-of-the-art approach to brain and spine surgery

A medical revolution emerges when technology blends with smart care.

Sacred Heart Hospital makes this connection with its new Smart OR(TM) - a specialized neurosurgical suite providing state-of-the-art treatment for neurosurgery, spine and trauma patients.

A configuration of advanced imagery and mapping technology, the Smart OR helps neurosurgeons perform complex brain, spine and trauma procedures in a more effective way.

Sacred Heart Hospital - in Eau Claire, Wis. - is the first hospital in the country to use this technology configuration for both surgery and diagnostics. It is also the first hospital of its size to have a BrainSUITE(R) with the IMRIS iMRI (intra-operative magnetic resonance imaging) operating suite and eventually the iCT (intra-operative computed tomography) operating suite. And Sacred Heart is one of only 17 hospitals in the world to offer this technology configuration for patients.

The delicacy of brain and spine surgery can be compared to tightrope walking, proposes Kamal Thapar, MD, Marshfield Clinic neurosurgeon and director of the Brain & Spine Institute at Sacred Heart Hospital.

"Imagine navigating a tightrope blindfolded. If you deviate off the path, even slightly, you fall. In surgery, the Smart OR is the ultimate tool ensuring that we don't 'fall,'" Thapar says. "The technology goes beyond what the human eye can see, removing that blindfold. It provides real-time, high definition data, allowing us to chart an exact path to tumors during operations - so surrounding, healthy tissue is not damaged."