Last year, the options for Valley Children’s patients and families were dramatically improved – thanks to the expertise and innovation of Valley Children’s neurosciences team and the ROSATM robotic surgical assistant.
Meet Steven*. He was diagnosed with refractory epilepsy that progressively intensified as he got older, leading to several seizures a day, some lasting four to five minutes each. Three days after monitoring electrodes were places with just two-millimeter incisions, Valley Children’s pediatric neurosurgeons performed a temporal lobectomy on Steven with only a seven-centimeter-long incision. Three days later, Steven was smiling and waving goodbye to his nurses and doctors. He was back in school within two weeks, more alert and agile than ever before. Steven remains seizure-free today.
Dr. Patricia Clerkin, Valley Children’s Medical Director of Pediatric Neurosurgery, utilized the ROSATM robotic surgical assistant to create a 3D map of Steven’s brain and plan the pathways needed to perform the procedure. ROSATM provided robotic alignment of the planned pathway, allowing access into the deep brain targets for the placement of electrodes, for the most accurate surgery possible.
“This technology means that more effective and faster surgeries with improved outcomes are available to patients without having to drive out of the Central Valley,” Dr. Clerkin said.
ROSATM technology also enables neurosurgeons to identify the precise source of seizures, opening the door for many more patients to become surgically qualified, allowing more neurosurgical procedures to be performed in a minimally invasive manner.
Leading-edge technology in the hands of expert physicians – a powerful combination that is now within reach for children like Steven throughout the Valley.
*Patient name has been changed for privacy