Mary Lanning Healthcare uses new equipment to help with brain, spinal surgeries

Brain and spine surgeries can now be done at Mary Lanning Healthcare in Hastings.

A new piece of equipment is working to help make these operations even more successful.

This machine is called the Airo Mobile Intraoperative CT. Surgeons are actually going to use this as they operate on patients.

It takes close-up pictures of the anatomy.

Dr. Scott Bell is one of the neurosurgeons already using this machine. It's a pretty big piece of equipment, but it has a large opening and a small system footprint, which means it can go though doors and allow for patient positioning.

Dr. Bell says surgeons will take images before operating, but the additional pictures captured in surgery will be a big bonus.

"In the case of spine surgery, where the screws are placed. In the case of brain surgery, you can taken an image of what has been done and make adjustments to your trajectory," said Mary Lanning Healthcare Neurosurgeon Dr. Scott Bell.

The neurosurgeon feels the images will lead to more precision and create less error during operations. It will also help surgeons plan more minimally invasive surgeries,

which means faster recovery time for patients.

To learn more about this new machine and the neurosurgery program, visit the Mary Lanning Healthcare website and click on "Imagine Brain and Spinal Surgery."