BREAKTHROUGHS
at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine
3D Image Surgery-Guided System
Liver resection is becoming more common as a treatment for liver cancer and disease. A new FDA-approved software system aids surgeons in planning what are often complicated surgeries by more accurately calculating the volume of liver to be removed and the volume that will be left in place. The technology, called Pathfinder, consists of an optical tracking system, tracked surgical instruments and image-guided surgery software that provides 3-D visualization of anatomic structures.
Editor’s note: William Chapman, MD, a Washington University liver surgeon, is one of the founders of Pathfinder and began developing the technology 14 years ago.
Electrocardiographic Imaging
Washington University researchers developed an imaging technology designed for better diagnosis and treatment of dangerous heart arrhythmias. This investigational technique, called electrocardiographic imaging, or ECGI, is noninvasive and uses 250 electrodes the patient wears like a vest. Combined with a CT scan of the heart, the electrodes produce a precise map of life-threatening heart rhythms in as little as one irregular beat.
Read more about ECGI.
Fenestrated Stent
Washington University is among the first sites in the United States to evaluate a new fenestrated stent graft that could broaden vascular surgeons’ ability to treat patients with complex aneurysms close to the arteries that feed the kidneys. The stent features small openings that can be strategically positioned to allow blood to pass into the renal arteries. The stents accommodate natural variations in vascular anatomy in a single device.
For more information, contact Luis Sanchez, MD, at 
314-362-7408.