Following the late-April unveiling of the StealthStation S7 at the annual conference of the American Academy of Neurological Surgeons (Rolling Meadows, Illinois) in Chicago, Medtronic continued the global launch of this seventh-generation system at European SpineWeek 2008.

StealthStation boasts enhanced 3-D views of the targeted patient anatomy as well real-time tracking of the surgical instruments enhancing precision procedures.

It was a hardware feature, however, that was drawing attention at SpineWeek, as the demonstration model of StealthStation was wired to a mobile "O-arm" that Medtronic hopes will replace the venerable C-arm, the radiology imaging tool that is a fixture of any spinal surgeon's operating theater.

The O-arm closes the circle on radiology imaging with a 360-degree scanning capability that allows faster 2-D and 3-D image acquisition.

For spine surgeries the new generation StealthStation combined with the O-arm, "could eliminate the need for a pre-op CT," said Medtronic's Serge Bellon.

The O-arm also significantly reduces the time required for the "registry step" where the surgeon orients his instruments on the virtual map created from the pre-op imagery by aligning with the real-world tracking of the overhead infrared camera.

"Instead of taking points and matches, it can all be registered in two minutes," he said.

"There is not an equivalent in the market, and that poses obvious advantages but also some challenges," Bellon noted. The latter include a need to explain the new functions and also how the O-arm fits with current practices and with other imaging modalities.

— John Brosky, European Editor