Abstract
The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry are working together to establish guidelines for medical equipment to be used in navigated surgery. A committee has also been formed to investigate the development and uses of medical navigation equipment.
Evidence attesting to the usefulness of navigation systems in surgery in the field of Otorhinolaryngology has been steadily accumulating, however, due to the still high costs of the equipment and the lack of certification for payment under health insurance schemes, implementation by individual departments remains difficult. The fact that within this meeting there have been many reports of the use of navigation, but there are still no clear guidelines as to indications, points up the difficulty of application procedures for leading medical technology.
In the fall of 2003, the Departments of Neurosurgery, Orthopedics and Otorhinolaryngology at our institution jointly purchased a StealthStation TREONTM manufactured by Medtronic Sofamor Danek, Co., Ltd., and began training and education in its use. The system is now being used in nearly all cases of endoscopic sinus surgery as well as being incorporated in some cases of ear, and head and neck surgery and the usefulness, accuracy, and preparation time in the clinical setting has been investigated.
Here, with an eye towards future application of this leading technology in the field of Otorhinolaryngology, we report our retrospective review of cases seen in our department as well as our investigation into the guidelines for use of navigation systems.
