Department of Neurosurgery
Interventional MRI

Interventional magnetic resonance imaging (IMRI) defines the intraoperative application of magnetic resonance imaging technology. The University of Mississippi Medical Center is one of only a handful of sites world-wide to use IMRI technology for neurosurgical applications. More than 100 cases have been performed in the IMRI suite since its opening in 1997. The potential neurosurgical applications of IMRI include:
  1. Brain tumors
  2. Pituitary tumors
  3. Spinal cord tumors
  4. Complex skull base and spinal tumors
  5. Cystic lesions of the brain, ventricles, and spinal canal
  6. Intracranial hemorrhage
  7. Epilepsy surgery
  8. Chiari malformation
  9. Hydromyelia/Syringomyelia
  10. Biopsy of small brain or spinal lesions
The virtual real-time feedback provided by the IMRI allows the neurosurgeon to precisely localize brain and spinal lesions at the time of surgery thus facilitating more accurate surgical exposure. In managing brain, skull base and spinal tumors, IMRI allows the neurosurgeon to check for residual tumor before leaving the operating suite. An IMRI-compatible endoscope can be used in addition to conventional surgical techniques to treat complex cystic lesions of the brain and spinal canal. Because blood clots are easily seen with MRI, intracranial hemorrhage can be evacuated more completely and with less injury to surrounding brain. By demonstrating the movement of cerebrospinal fluid in the spaces surrounding the brain and spinal cord, IMRI provides useful intraoperative information regarding the adequacy of decompression of the Chiari malformations and syringomyelia. In some cases, the information provided by the IMRI may prevent more extensive surgical procedures. Finally, IMRI allows the neurosurgeon to identify some intraoperative and immediate postoperative complications before the patient has suffered permanent brain or spinal cord injury.

Faculty:
    Andrew D. Parent, MD
    H. Louis Harkey, MD
    Gurmeet Dhillon, MD

For more information on the neurosurgical applications of Interventional Magnetic Resonance Imaging please contact:
Jennifer Hood, RN
The Department of Neurosurgery at The University of Mississippi Medical Center
2500 North State Street
Jackson, Mississippi 39216.
(601)984-5723