iCT photo gallery

Brain & Spine Institute

iCT Smart Operating Suite construction photo gallery

Trauma and neurosurgery patients at Sacred Heart Hospital are benefitting from some of the most advanced surgical technologies available anywhere in the world – right here in Eau Claire.

Sacred Heart Hospital is the first in Wisconsin and the first hospital ever of its size to have both a BrainSUITE^® intra-operative CT (iCT) smart operating suite for spine and trauma patients, and a BrainSUITE with IMRIS intra-operative MRI (iMRI) smart operating suite for neurosurgery patients.

Sacred Heart Hospital is one of only a handful of hospitals in the U.S. to offer BrainSUITE^® and IMRIS iMRI technology. Sacred Heart Hospital is also the first hospital in the country to offer BrainSUITE and IMRIS iMRI and iCT technology for both surgery and diagnostics.

View the photo gallery below of the iCT Smart Operating Suite, which recently opened.

Picture taken inside the iCT suite looking east. The two depressed areas in the floor are where the rails for the CT will be installed. The CT will be mounted on these rails and will be able to move from the edge of the room to the center of the room. The circular area in the floor is where the special "Maquet" operating room table will be mounted.

A view from inside the control room looking into the iCT surgical suite. This opening will have a lead shielded piece of glass installed in it.

An electrician mounting electrical conduit on the ceiling.

Inside the iCT suite. The dark gray, blue and white colored areas of the floor are the three different colors of terrazzo floor. The terrazzo will be ground down and polished to give the floor its final appearance.

A view of the north wall of the iCT suite. The three panels of fire treated plywood on the wall will support three BrainLAB monitor panels that will be mounted to the wall. Copper piping against the wall is the medical gas piping bringing the oxygen, vacuum, air, nitrogen and nitrous oxide into the room.

Vertical steel support frames, shown here, will support the stainless steel wall panels that will line the inside of the suite.

Inside the iCT suite. The round silver ductwork at the ceiling is the supply air ductwork for the suite. The green colored supports at the upper left hand corner will support the energy chain for the CT scanner. The energy chain is a device which supports the cabling and power wiring that runs to the CT. When the CT moves on its rails, the energy chain moves as well, which prevents the cables and wiring from drooping or tangling.

An equipment cabinet provided and installed by BrainLAB.

BrainLAB is the company that developed the neuronavigational technology system our surgeons use to 'guide' them through complex brain and spine surgeries. This neuronavigational system computes a three-dimensional “virtual space” reconstruction of the area that will be operated on, which is then mapped to the “real space” of the patient’s body. This system enables our neurosurgeons to perform virtual surgical planning prior to operation, outlining the tumor and critical surrounding structures - thereby planning the safest and most accurate pathway for tumor removal.

Inside the iCT suite. The ceiling supported operating room lights, anesthesia boom and monitor boom are shown mounted from the overhead steel support framing. They are wrapped with plastic to keep the construction dust out. The floors have been covered with plywood to protect the terrazzo flooring.

Taken inside the iCT suite looking toward the Control Room viewing window.

Taken inside the iCT Control Room.

Shown here is the ceiling grid above where the operating room table will be. Lights have been installed around the perimeter. Supply air diffusers will be installed in the open area in the center.

Shown here is the end of one of the two iCT rails that are mounted on the floor. The iCT is mobile and will move to and from the patient on these rails. (Similar to railroad tracks.)

This picture is taken at the entry doors into the iCT Smart OR™ surgical suite looking into the room. The panel on the left edge of the photo houses the medical gas alarms. Each medical gas line has its own separate alarm that monitors the pressure in that line. If the pressure in the line drops below the acceptable level, an audible alarm will sound. In the event that no one is in the vicinity of the operating room when the alarm sounds, the main switchboard is then notified. The hospital's main switchboard is staffed 24 hours a day.

A view looking east inside the iCT Smart OR™ surgical suite. The far wall is the full height blue glass that will be illuminated by backlighting. The rails that will enable to CT to move are mounted flush with the floor.