From the June 2018 issue of HealthCare Business News magazine
It's been almost 15 years since IMRIS installed its first surgical theater in 2005, and a lot has changed with the company and the cutting edge capabilities of its equipment.
As part of its coverage of intraoperative imaging for our April magazine, we checked in with IMRIS CEO, Andy Flanagan, to find out what's new with the company and what we can expect in the future.
HCB News: IMRIS installed its first surgical theater in 2005, how many surgical theaters are in the current install base and has the basic technology changed over time?
Andy Flanagan: Since our first U.S. installation at Boston Children’s Hospital in 2005, we’ve grown our customer base to more than 75 facilities worldwide, in some of the most prestigious hospitals globally, including Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital, Cleveland Clinic, Johns Hopkins Hospital, and Beijing Tiantan Hospital.
The IMRIS Surgical Theatre has evolved to include a high-field 3T MRI, intraoperative CT, angiography, as well as new coils, head fixation devices, and most recently a new MR Neurosurgical Tabletop.
Perhaps one of the most important innovations is the way we help bring all aspects of the technology together to uniquely fit the customer’s intended use and workflows. Our services focus on a four-pillar approach – Consult, Design, Create, and Support – for the best possible value and outcomes. We take time to understand the needs of each hospital, and to help them optimize use of their space and their equipment while providing clinical staff training and equipment maintenance.
HCB News: What are some of the procedures where the IMRIS surgical theater offers the biggest advantages to outcomes?
AF: The IMRIS Surgical Theatre offers significant value to neurosurgeons in particular – for tumor resection, and movement disorder procedures like deep brain stimulation (DBS).
Brain tumors are diagnosed in tens of thousands of Americans each year and tragically they are the leading cause of cancer-related deaths in children. The IMRIS Surgical Theatre offers a few key benefits. First, the IMRIS Surgical Theatre features a moving magnet, giving surgeons a way to bring imaging to the patient rather than the other way around, avoiding the inherent risks of transporting a patient in and out of the operating room during surgery. Secondly, it allows surgeons greater precision to distinguish tumorous tissue from normal tissue that can sometimes be hard to identify with the naked eye, and greater resection rates help reduce or eliminate the need for follow-up surgeries.
