IMRIS Inc. announced the initial uses of its neurosurgical horseshoe headrest with VISIUS(R) intraoperative MRI (iMRI) during two cases at Le Bonheur Children's Hospital in Memphis, TN. The IMRIS horseshoe headrest is the world's first MR-safe and CT-compatible horseshoe headrest on the market for the positioning of patients ranging from neonatal to adult during neurosurgical procedures requiring intraoperative imaging in the VISIUS(R) Surgical Theatre. The second neurosurgical case the following day involved a four-month-old baby operated on by Dr. Paul Klimo, chief of the division of pediatric neurosurgery at Le Bonheur and University of Tennessee Health Science Center.

The device provides non-pinned (or non-rigid) head support in prone, lateral, and supine positions during head, neck and cervical spine surgeries where use of a head fixation device (HFD) - a clamp-like device - is not desirable because the skull is too fragile for pinning. These patients may be babies whose skulls are still soft or older patients with weakened skull bones. This headrest may also be useful for other applications not requiring rigid fixation, such as those that access the skull through the nose.