Magnetic Surgery System Being Installed at
The University of Iowa

by John Haller, PhD

A revolutionary new technology for therapeutic interventions is being installed in the Radiology Department's lower level MRI Center. The "Stereotaxis SystemTM" is an interventional workstation with a magnet-guided catheter. The system is capable of remotely directing and digitally controlling therapeutic and diagnostic devices along complex paths within the body. The Stereotaxis System integrates computers and images in the cath lab, or operating room, providing less invasive procedures than traditional surgical and other therapeutic interventions. This computer-integrated surgical approach combines a magnetic field (external to the body) that can be turned off and on, image-guidance, and real-time imaging with computer control of interventional devices, such as metal-tipped catheters.

The Stereotaxis System is an investigational device being installed at the University of Iowa, and is one of only four systems in the world. The device provides digital control of the working end of catheters, guidewires or endoscopes anywhere in the body, and is designed to navigate and control flexible instruments in both vascular and non-vascular lumens and parenchyma (tissue). This minimally invasive technique may be used in a wide range of interventional procedures, from cardiology and neurosurgery to urology and gastroenterology. These applications offer potential solutions to major challenges in electrophysiology and interventional cardiology, neurosurgery and interventional neuroradiology.

The Stereotaxis System was brought to the University of Iowa by Dr. Michael Vannier, Professor of Radiology, and invented by Dr. Matthew Howard, Chairman of Neurosurgery. The magnetic navigation system, with computer-controlled magnetic fields that are capable of remotely steering a catheter, represents a technological breakthrough for interventional medicine and image-guided surgery. Additional information about this innovative device and associated emerging technologies can be found on the company's website, www.stereotaxis.com.