University of Arkansas

David M Cardwell

Steven E Harms

A stereotactic device for localizing an MRI-imaged mass using horizontal and vertical protractors on which a laser is mounted. The protractors and laser are mounted on a table which may be positioned horizontally and vertically with respect to the patient table. The portion of the patient's body being imaged is fixed by a compression plate to which a reference target is mounted. The reference target incorporates a substance which is strongly imaged by the MRI. The compression plate comprises an array of relatively large apertures through which the radiologist may guide an instrument. From the MRI images, the radiologist takes an angle between the reference target and the suspect mass from each of two perpendicular planes and inputs these angles into the protractors of the stereotactic device. The table of the stereotactic device is adjusted horizontally or vertically with respect to the patient table so that the beam of the laser aligns with the reference target. The reference target is then removed from the compression plate so that the laser beam illuminates an entry point on the patient's body. The laser beam is thus aligned along a trajectory from the entry point to the suspect mass. The radiologist is then able to simply follow the laser beam with a biopsy needle or other instrument to make consistent arrival at the site of the suspect mass.

Growing community of inventors

Little Rock, AR, United States of America

David M Cardwell