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Our freehand SPECT system provides improved access to sentinel lymph nodes during surgery as it visualizes the nodes’ location in 3D. Precise localization and extraction of sentinel lymph nodes allow a secure and proper nodal staging without excessive morbidity and thus a less invasive and better treatment planning.
Over the past decades, lymphatic mapping and sentinel lymph node biopsy underwent an exciting development in surgical oncology. They are now accepted as a standard of care for nodal staging in breast cancer and are also being introduced into the therapeutic concept of other cancers. Selective lymphadenectomy is based on the histological status of a sentinel lymph node. The concept of the sentinel lymph node allows the surgeon to tailor surgery exactly to the patient’s requirements and avoids unnecessary regional lymph node dissection. Such a minimally invasive approach decreases patient morbidity and procedure cost.
The extraction of sentinel lymph nodes requires considerable effort and training of the entire clinical staff when using only gamma probes. Freehand SPECT is the first technology that can visualize a sentinel lymph node during surgery in 3D. This allows a precise localization and a direct control of the resected node without highly specialized medical experience. Furthermore, the system facilitates the objective documentation of the procedure and promises to shorten operation time.
| freehand SPECT Features |
Clinical Benefit |
| Intra-operative 3D SPECT imaging directly before surgical interventions |
Localization of SLN in 3D for direct and minimally invasive access, reduction of morbidity |
| Image fusion, in-situ visualization, and navigation |
Intuitive data presentation, performance of
complex procedures with less training efforts |
| Intra-operative 3D SPECT imaging during surgery |
Compensation for motion and deformation, simplification of SLN localization in complex
scenarios |
| Intra-operative 3D SPECT imaging after resection of SLN |
Quality control and confirmation of complete SLN resection |
| Online documentation |
Reduced effort for and increased quality of documentation |
In addition to the sentinel lymph node application, freehand SPECT enables the generation of SPECT images during surgery for quality assurance in any kind of tumor surgery. The images support a fast, precise and complete resection of tissue and increase confidence in the therapeutic procedure and outcome. The imaging data can be generated anytime during surgery and show a 3D distribution of radioactivity, such as accumulated Tc99m, In111, I123, etc. in lymph nodes or primary / metastatic tumor lesions. Due to the device’s flexibility, tissue can be rescanned during an intervention whenever necessary.
SurgicEye provides end-to-end and OEM solutions to integrate this imaging technology in your clinical applications and your surgical workflow. A large set of customizable user interfaces and interaction paradigms are available.
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| freehand SPECT imaging in the operating room for localization and minimally invasive extraction of sentinel lymph nodes in breast cancer patients. The system consists of an optical tracking system and a video camera. These devices provide basic functionality for tracking, navigation and visualization on a touch screen interface (left image). Tools are extended by targets in order to localize them in 3D in a common coordinate system (middle and right image). |
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| Hybrid Imaging: Co-registered freehand SPECT and CT images showing the injection site and a sentinel lymph node conglomerate of a breast cancer patient. |
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| Co-registered freehand SPECT and video image showing the injection site and sentinel lymph node of a patient in situ. |
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