Navigated ultrasound device successfully launched

In collaboration with Hitachi Aloka Medical, Ltd, Pathfinder has successfully launched Shadow, a navigated intraoperative ultrasound device for use with the image-guided liver surgery platform Explorer^TM.  Now in regular clinical use at multiple institutions in the United States, this development enables tracking of Aloka intraoperative ultrasound (IOUS) transducers during surgical navigation cases.  As a result, the position of resection and/or ablation devices can be visualized relative to intraoperative ultrasound and 3D models of anatomic structures based on preoperative imaging (CT or MRI).  In the field of hepatic surgery, preoperative imaging is essential for surgical planning while IOUS remains the gold standard for intraoperative imaging.  When the two modalities are combined intraoperatively, the surgeon can make more informed decisions regarding the course of therapy, thereby leading to improved patient outcomes.  The new technology has proven to be particularly beneficial in cases where the location of the target tumor is uncertain, when thermal ablation has made identification of the tumor boundary difficult, and when verification of the depth of a wedge resection is required.