Hospitals

Intraoperative monitoring has been shown to reduce the costs associated with surgically induced neurological deficits. Our services help give your surgeons the feedback they need to ensure the best possible surgical outcomes and patient care possible.

Partnering with hospitals to deliver superior intraoperative monitoring services at the local level, NW Monitoring provides individualized solutions that meet your OR objectives. Built on exceptional customer service, we establish a long-term supply chain partnership with facilities with our technicians providing the consistency and 24-hour dependability necessary to run an efficient OR. Our scheduling team ensures  you have the monitoring coverage your surgeons need so nothing falls through the cracks, and our in-house billing department works diligently with insurance companies to reduce and often eliminate patient responsibility.

Unlike larger, impersonal IOM companies, NW Monitoring is privately owned which means you will always be working with a familiar associate to get the intraoperative monitoring services you need.

Monitoring Modalities

Below you will find the modalities that we can monitor intraoperatively as well as the structures monitored.

  • Brainstem evoked potentials are obtained by stimulating the auditory system with click stimuli. The neural action potentials between the cochlea and the medial geniculate body are evaluated based on the brainstem evoked response. Brainstem evoked responses are sensitive to disturbances of the auditory nerve and to retractor disturbances of the brainstem.

    Monitorable Structures

    Cranial Nerve VIII

    Auditory Brainstem Pathways

    Surgical Applications

    • Acoustic Neuroma Surgery

    • Microvascular Decompression of cranial nerves

    • Posterior Fossa Surgery

    • Skull Base Surgery Requiring Brainstem Retraction

    • Vestibular Nerve Section

  • Language, motor, and sensory areas of the exposed cortex can be identified by direct brain recording or stimulation. The somatosensory response is recorded from the surface of the brain. Language areas are determined by verbal responses during brain stimulation in the awake patient. Motor areas of the cortex and the internal capsule are determined from EMG and evoked by electric brain stimulation.

    Monitorable Structures

    Motor Cortex and Internal Capsule

    Language Areas of the Brain

    Sensory Cortex

    Surgical Applications

    • Brain Tumor Surgery

  • On going EEG activity from the scalp is recorded from a multi-electrode array and subjected to a fast Fourier transform (FFT) analysis producing a frequency/power spectrum that can be monitored to assess changes in the metabolic state of cortical structures.

    Monitorable Structures

    Cortex

    Surgical Applications

    • Aneurysm (including cerebral aneurysm

    • Carotid endarterectomy

    • Cardiopulmonary bypass

    • Evaluation of anesthetic effects

  • Blood flow velocity is measured from intracranial arteries using Doppler ultrasound. This technique is used to detect emboli, vasospasm and inadequate blood flow to cortical structures. Microvascular Doppler can also be used to directly assess blood flow within and through an aneurysm.

    Monitorable Structures

    Middle Cerebral Artery

    Aneurysm Feeder Arteries

    Surgical Applications

    • Aneurysm Surgery (Cerebral and Ascending Aortic)

    • Carotid Endarterectomy

    • Cardiopulmonary Bypass

  • Near-infrared absorption measurements are used to calculate an index of cerebral venus oxygen saturation

    Monitorable Structures

    Cortical Perfusion

    Surgical Applications

    • Cardiopulmonary Bypass

    • Carotid Endarterectomy

  • Visual evoked potentials are obtained from flash stimulation of the eye, and are measured from the occipital region. They may provide useful information regarding the function of the pre-chiasmal visual pathways, but are labile and require careful anesthetic control. Additionally, retrochiasmal functional changes are difficult to assess using flash visual evoked potentials.

    Monitorable Structures

    Optic Nerve Fuction Anterior to Chiasm

    Surgical Applications

    • Transsphenoidal Pituitary Tumor Surgery

    • Posterior Cerebral Artery Aneurysm

  • Somatosensory evoked responses are obtained by stimulating a peripheral nerve at the wrist and/or ankles. The propagation of the sensory action potentials is evaluated along their pathways to the cortex. This modality gives information about the integrity of the sensory pathways. It is also highly correlated with preservation of the spinal cord motor pathways.

    Monitorable Structures

    Spinal Cord

    Lumbar and Sacral Nerve Roots

    Monitoring Metabolic Function of Cortical Structures

    Brainstem Somatosensory Pathways

    Surgical Applications

    • Spinal Deformity Surgery

    • Spinal Cord Tumor Surgery

    • Cervical and Thoracic Decompression, Fusion, and/or Instrumentation Surgeries

    • Aortic Aneurysm

    • Lumbosacral Decompression, Fusion Surgeries

    • Cauda Equina Surgery

    • Sacral-iliac Fracture Reduction

    • Carotid Endarterectomy

    • Cerebral Aneurysm Surgery

    • Skull Base Surgery Requiring Retraction

    • Acetabular Fracture

  • Motor Evoked Potentials are obtained by transcranial electric stimulation of the cortical motor areas. Monitoring the evoked muscle responses or the descending potentials from the spinal cord (The “D” wave) can assess the integrity of the motor pathways.

    Monitorable Structures

    Spinal Cord Motor Pathways

    Surgical Applications

    • All Spinal Surgeries that Place the Spinal Cord at Risk Including:

    • Spinal Cord Tumor Surgery

    • Spinal Deformity Surgery

    • Cervical or Thoracic Decompressions,, Fusion and/or Instrumentation Surgeries

    • Thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysm

  • Spinal Nerve Roots: Spontaneous EMG monitoring warns of potential nerve damage during manipulation. Evoked EMG stimulation of the pedicle screws can indicate a misdirected screw placement.

    Cranial Nerves: The evaluation of spontaneous and evoked electromyogenic activity can be extremely useful in monitoring cranial nerve function. Spontaneous activity in the distribution of these nerves can signal mechanical disturbance of the cranial nerve.

    Peripheral Nerves: The function of peripheral motor nerves can be evaluated during surgery by means of spontaneous and evoked electromyographic activity.

    Monitorable Structures

    Spinal Motor Roots

    Cranial Nerves III, IV, V, VI, VII, IX, X, XI, and XII

    All Peripheral Motor Nerves

    Surgical Applications

    • Cauda Equina Surgery

    • Cervical or Lumbosacral Decompression

    • Pedicle Screw Instrumentation Surgery

    • Acoustic Neuroma

    • Anterior Neck Procedures

    • Mastoidectomy

    • Microvascular Decompression of Cranial Nerves

    • Parotid Surgery

    • Middle Ear Surgery

    • Skull Base Surgery When Motor Cranial Nerves are at Risk

    • Thyroidectomy

    • Vestibular Nerve Section

    • Monitoring of Femoral and Sciatic Nerve Function during Acetabular Surgery

    • Peripheral neuroma Surgery

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