3-D imaging lets brain surgeons rehearse risky procedures

Using CT and MRI scans, software builds up a 3-D image of the brain.

A surgeon probes a patient's brain and sees her target: a swelling on the side of a blood vessel, like a blister on a tire where the rubber has worn off. It's an aneurysm. She uses tiny clips to cut it off from the blood vessel. But there's a problem: an unseen defect causes the aneurysm to burst, resulting in a massive stroke. But there's no problem — she can try again because it was all done in a simulator.

In the next few months, University Hospital Case Medical Center in Cleveland and UCLA will be testing a 3-D imaging system that, coupled with a tool that gives tactile feedback, will allow doctors to rehearse high-risk brain surgery. The system will be tested on virtual brain aneurysms, comparing the outcomes with real surgeries that were done without it.