Intracranial surgery with a compact, low-field-strength magnetic resonance imager.

Intraoperative magnetic resonance imaging (iMRI) has been a reality for more than a decade. As technology has begun to mature, the focus on practicality and user-friendliness has sharpened. In addition, the need for well-designed and well-executed outcome studies remains so that expensive new instruments such as iMRI can be justified. We present our experience with the PoleStar system, a compact, low-field-strength iMRI designed to make intraoperative imaging a routine component of intracranial neurosurgery. The advantages and limitations of this approach are discussed in the context of different clinical applications.