Methodist Hospitals unveils $1.5 million surgical suite

• Reprints

Steven Schott of Stryker (left) and spine surgeon Elian Shepherd (right) demonstrate surgical techniques during a tour of the Methodist Hospitals Computer Assisted Surgery suite at the Merrillville, Ind. campus Tuesday January 31, 2012. | Stephanie Dowell~Sun-Times Media

Updated: March 2, 2012 8:16AM

Dr. Elian Shepherd stood before a group of onlookers showing them just how large an operating drill is, about a foot long.

If that drill were to enter someone’s spine at the wrong place, it could cause serious damage or even death, Shepherd told the group Tuesday at Methodist Hospitals Southlake.

The hospital’s new $1.5 million Surgical Navigation Suite lessens the chance of that happening because it helps doctors see the exact location of their instruments in a patient’s body, Shepherd said.

Shepherd, medical director of the hospital’s Spine Care Center, and others introduced the new surgical center, showing off how it clears up space in the operating room as well as how it uses GPS technology to pinpoint a surgical instrument within .07 millimeters.

Stephen Schott, an employee with Stryker Navigation which built the system, said the equipment eliminates the need for X-rays — and patient exposure to radiation — to help surgeons keep track of their work.

With the new system, doctors take three points on the patient’s body with the GPS system, which then coordinates those points with a computerized tomography scan taken before surgery. The system connects the two so the surgeon has a full view of the patient’s body.

The instruments are all attached with a GPS location system that talks with the main camera, which tracks their progress on monitors throughout the room.

“The navigation system doesn’t make a bad surgeon a good surgeon,” Shepherd said. “The navigation system makes a good surgeon a better surgeon.”

Shepherd said in his work with spines, he sometimes has to place instruments in tricky areas with many nerves. The new system allows him to know he is putting his tools in exactly the right spot.

Dr. Judson Wood Jr., an orthopedic surgeon with the hospital, said he was wary of the new system, which was installed from September through December, but has come to see it helps patients and doesn’t add to surgery times.

Wood said in some orthopedic surgeries, doctors have to drill a hole into the femur to anchor their tools. That creates loss of blood for the patient, however. The new system eliminates that step, Wood said, so patients can recover quicker.

He can also make sure a hip prosthesis is placed in the exact right spot, which helps to prevent wear and tear, Wood said.

“The computer guides us to make an almost perfect cut,” he said.

Ian McFadden, president and CEO of Methodist Hospitals, said the system helps the hospital give the best care to patients.