Titanium Pins Stabilize the Skull During Surgery

New titanium skull pins maintain the stability of a patient's head during brain surgery, supporting the use of new, advanced intra-operative imaging technologies.

The Mayfield skull pins are manufactured from high-grade titanium, and are specifically designed for use with the Mayfield cranial stabilization system, which is designed to maintain the stability of a patient's head during brain surgery. This stabilization is necessary since over the past ten years, neurosurgeons are increasingly using intra-operative imaging technologies, such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), to enable them to have up-to-date information that confirms, for example, the complete removal of a tumor before the patient leaves the operating room (OR). This diagnostic imaging of the brain is performed before, during, and after the surgical procedure.

However, during MRI scanning, the presence of certain metals can cause image artifacts that may hinder the neurosurgeon's ability to interpret the images. The new Mayfield skull pins allow neurosurgeons to perform MRI scans during brain surgery without compromising image quality. The skull pins may be used with any Mayfield cranial fixation system that is compatible with these imaging modalities, and the skull pins are being offered for both adult and pediatric patients. The Mayfield cranial stabilization system and titanium pins are a product of Integra LifeSciences (Plainsboro, NJ, USA), and have been approved by both the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), as well as CE Mark certification in the European Union.

"The use of advanced diagnostic imaging equipment, in a neurosurgical operating room, requires the redesign of certain specialized accessories to make them compatible with the image capture process. The new Mayfield titanium skull pins now provide a distortion free operating environment for MR imaging. Clear, unobstructed intra-operative MR imaging enables the neurosurgeon to operate with greater precision and added confidence,” said Christopher von Jako, Integra's senior director of marketing and product development for OR devices.

The Mayfield system is used worldwide in over 200,000 brain procedures annually. These procedures include head trauma injuries; pediatric disorders such as hydrocephalus, biopsies, and cancer removal; cerebrovascular disorders such as aneurysms; and neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson's disease or epilepsy.


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