ABSTRACT
The recent introduction of intraoperative magnetic resonance imaging (iMRI) into the operating room is the culmination of decades of progress in the neurosurgeon’s ability to integrate three-dimensional imaging information into pre-and intraoperative surgical planning (1-19). Progress in this arena dates back to the early 20th century, when innovators of what we refer to as modern neurosurgical care recognized the need to perform intraoperative imaging assessments of intracranial pathology. At the early part of the last century plain skull X-ray images, pneumoencephalography, ventriculography, and soon after cerebral angiography were the first imaging modalities that became available (20,21). Soon these imaging modalities were used in conjunction with stereotactic frames, enabled stereotactic procedures, and helped to guide instruments (precisely) into the depth of the human brain (22,23).
