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Technology helps , New Mexico teacher at Covenant Health

By Admin | February 12, 2019

A Clovis High School teacher is quickly recovering after having technology-aided open brain surgery in December.

Brain mapping technology was used during the procedure at Covenant Health to remove a part of Marco Hicks’ brain that was causing epilepsy and debilitating seizures.

Synaptive Medical’s BrightMatter technology helps Covenant Health doctors navigate the brain during surgery through the use of 3D images that allow for a personalized approach to each procedure. This technology is used to operate on brain tumors, aneurysms, vascular lesions and skull-based issues. Covenant Health is the second Texas facility to invest in the system, according to a news release from the health system.

During part of Hicks’ surgery, he was technically awake and communicated with speech pathologist Michael Barrett as neurosurgeon Dr. Harold Smith operated. He was initially put under a general anesthetic, then was given a different anesthetic to wake up him.

“It wasn’t exactly what I expected, based on TV shows I’ve seen before,” Barrett said. “A lot of the surgery, my time with him, was trying to keep him awake to participate.”

For more on this, please read, Technology helps , New Mexico teacher at Covenant Health, by Lubbock Online. 

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