Henry Ford Hospital gets new robotic technology that allows surgery on tumors deep within the brain

Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit is once again redefining the dreaded medical term “inoperable” with an advanced brain surgery technology called BrightMatter.

Developed by Toronto, Ontario-based Synaptive Medical, BrightMatter offers neurosurgeons a highly detailed imaging and robotic positioning system that will help them perform the delicate brain and some spine surgeries.

Neurosurgeons at Henry Ford using BrightMatter will be able to operate on 20 to 30 cases and maybe more currently deemed inoperable, said Steven Kalkanis, M.D., Henry Ford’s chairman of neurosurgery and co-director of the Hermelin Brain Tumor Center.

Moreover, another 100 or more cases (15 percent to 20 percent) of Henry Ford’s total tumor cases located in deep and critical areas of the skull will now be candidates for the BrightMatter surgical techniques, Kalkanis said.

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