News Release

NEW SYSTEM ADVANCES SINUS SURGERY
AT UPMC NORTHWEST
GE InstaTrak technology makes operations safer, more effective

Nov. 15, 2004 — New surgical technology is helping doctors perform sinus surgery more safely and effectively at UPMC Northwest.

With the General Electric InstaTrak Surgical Navigation System, physicians can better visualize patients’ sinus cavities, skull anatomy, and the surgical instruments, allowing them to more precisely target and remove diseased tissue.

UPMC Northwest is the first hospital in the region to obtain the state-of-the-art InstaTrak system, and ear, nose and throat (ENT) specialists have begun using the new image-guided surgical technology here with excellent results. “They’re very happy with it and the results they’re getting,” says Vivian Todd, RN, UPMC Northwest’s program manager of Surgical/Invasive Services.

The InstaTrak Surgical Navigation System is exactly what its name implies: a way to precision-guide surgical instruments through the complex sinus anatomy to find and remove damaged tissue, clear blocked sinuses, remove nasal polyps, and perform other procedures to help patients with acute and chronic sinus disorders. The sophisticated InstaTrak technology lets ENT specialists see inside the sinuses better than ever, and the more they see, the easier it is to find the affected tissue, the safer the procedure is (the doctor can better visualize and work around the delicate structures of the eyes and brain), and the more likely they can effectively treat the patient.

The InstaTrak system “allows us to know exactly where we are so we can do a more thorough job and avoid complications,” says ENT specialist Marc Maslov, MD.

The new technology “adds a measure of safety and completeness that we don’t have with conventional sinus surgery,” says ENT specialist Kathleen Fitch, MD, who had several years of experience with image-guided surgery while practicing in California. “Sometimes the anatomy in the sinuses can be difficult to navigate, and it can vary greatly from patient to patient. When it does, this technology can be quite helpful.”

Problems like chronic sinus infections, chronic sinus headaches, and the unpleasant symptoms associated with them – difficulty breathing, runny nose, sore throat, coughing, bad breath, fever, and reduced hearing, smell, or taste – afflict hundreds of area residents, “so an advancement like the InstaTrak system that promises safer, better treatment is great news,” says ENT specialist Pam Crawford, MD.

While ENTs at UPMC Northwest have long performed endoscopic sinus surgery – the physician guides a tiny endoscope through the nose and into the sinuses to view tissue during the operation – InstaTrak improves significantly on this procedure by adding other dimensions to it. The InstaTrak system, for example, uses CT scans to build a computerized model of the patient’s skull that serves as a road map for the surgeon to follow during the operation. ENTs using the new technology also can see the exact position of the surgical instruments and the instruments’ movement within the sinuses, which help them more accurately proceed to and operate on the affected tissue.

With the map and the clearer view of the destination that InstaTrak provide, “we’re more confident about where we’re going and our ability to operate safely and successfully,” Dr. Maslov says.

Dr. Fitch says the InstaTrak system is especially helpful when doctors perform surgery on patients whose sinuses have been altered by trauma or a previous operation. “It often can lead us to the correct part of the sinuses in these cases and can make surgery easier and safer,” she says.

In addition to fostering safer, more effective treatment, InstaTrak technology is helping ENTs operate here on some patients with severe sinus disease who until now were referred to Pittsburgh or Erie hospitals for surgery. “It was just too risky to try operating here without this kind of equipment,” Dr. Maslov says.