Ultra-High Field Magnetic Resonance Imaging for Stereotactic Neurosurgery

 

 

This study is for adults who are scheduled for stereotactic neurosurgery and/or Vagus Nerve Stimulator (VNS) surgery. The purpose of this study is to investigate the utility of using imaging techniques at ultra-high field for visualizing brain structures that are treatment targets for neurological disorders, such as epilepsy and Parkinson’s disease. This will be done using Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and high resolution MRI of the brain. The MRI taken on the 7T MRI at Robarts Research Institute provides more detailed visualization of brain structures targeted in deep brain stimulation surgery compared with conventional clinical images (at 1.5T and 3T). In this study, we will obtain both in order to establish the feasibility and utility of using these higher quality images. An equal number of healthy controls as a normative sample (matched for age, sex, and education) will also be recruited for the study. The patient will be booked for an MRI appointment before their surgery that is 1.5 hours in duration at Robarts Research Institute. Verbal consent is collected by several different people, via telephone, upon receiving information from Dr. Lau’s secretary about the patient's upcoming surgery. Written consent is obtained at the MRI appointment.

 Inclusion criteria:

  • Patients, male or female, referred to Neurosurgery for stereotactic electrode implantation, or VNS surgery aged 18 and older.

 

Exclusion criteria:

  • Patients should not have an MRI scan if they have any history of head or eye injury involving metal fragments, if they have worked in a metal shop or been a soldier, if they have some type of implanted electrical device (such as a cardiac pacemaker), if they have severe heart disease (including susceptibility to arrhythmias), or if they are wearing metal braces on their teeth.

 

Principal Investigator: Dr. Jonathan Lau

Mariam Elnazali (Research Assistant), Keira Gallagher (Research Assistant), and Suzan Brown (Research Coordinator) will contact patients by telephone after obtaining circle-of care permission or will obtain consent in clinic.