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Tuesday, March 21, 2023 San Juan Regional Medical Center Offering O-arm™ Technology in the Operating Room

San Juan Regional Medical Center is proud to have the first and only O-arm™ Surgical Imaging System in the Four Corners. The O-arm™ is a mobile intraoperative imaging system that provides real-time images of a patient’s anatomy in both two and three dimensions. This type of imaging allows the surgeon to navigate their surgical instrumentation with enhanced precision and accuracy, resulting in improved patient safety.

“The O-arm™ has two exciting things about it, guidance and confirming placement of instrumentation,” explained neurological surgeon Dr. Christopher Payne. “It tells us where to put the instrumentation, so as instruments enter the bone we can see where in the bone they are going. Then after we can check with another scan to see exactly where everything went.” 

Along with the navigation and surgical feedback capabilities, the O-arm™ system:

  • Provides enhanced 3D visibility  
  • Enhances minimally invasive surgical approaches
  • Helps reduce the risk of complications 
  • Improves surgical outcomes 
  • Streamlines workflow 
  • Decreases operative time 

“It helps us place our instrumentation in a timelier fashion. From a patient standpoint that means less time in the operating room, less time under general anesthesia. Less surgical time typically results in decreased infection rates and increases the safety in the operating room. That is something we want to maximize as much as possible,” Dr. Payne said.

Dr. Christopher Payne in the operating room with the O-arm Surgical Imaging System

With the addition of the O-arm™, San Juan Regional Medical Center’s neurosurgeons now have the ability to use 3D and provide improved navigation technology during cranial and spinal procedures. 

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