Here are four things to know:
1. Boston-based Brigham & Women’s Hospital neuroradiologist and lead author Thomas Lee, MD, and his team performed 11 MRI-guided cryoablation procedures for spinal canal decompression, according to Physics World.
2. According to Dr. Lee, Brigham and Women’s is the only hospital in the world currently performing MRI-guided cryoablation for spinal canal decompression.
3. Cryoablation begins by using CT guidance to drill into the bone for cryoprobe placement. Study authors noted MRI alone can be used to place the cryoprobe if bone has already been completed eroded along the necessary path. Once the cryoprobe is in position, the team employed MRI to monitor growth of the cryoablation zone using standard axial and sagittal T2-weighted MR images.
“Much of the time is in preparing the patient for the operating room and placing the cryoablation probe to avoid critical structures,” Dr. Lee told Physics World. “This is usually an outpatient procedure, and patients can leave the hospital several hours after its completion.”
4. Study authors observed regrowth of previously eroded bone around the spinal canal after successful decompression.
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