Equipment
Laser
Where would laser spine surgery be without lasers? Deuk Spine Institute uses a top-of-the-line surgical Holmium: YAG laser manufactured in Yokneam, Israel and imported into the United States by Boston Scientific. FDA approved and patented, the VersaPulse PowerSuit is known for its established safety profile in healthcare applications. With a unique blend of 2100 nm wavelength electromagnetic energy and cavitation displacement of liquid, this laser is the perfect surgical instrument for the Deuk Laser Disc Repair® procedure. Zero laser associated complications have occurred at Deuk Spine Institute in nearly 20 years and over 5,000 laser disc repairs performed.
Spinal Endoscope
When you think of endoscopic surgery you may think “less invasive, smaller incision, less bleeding, faster recovery, less scar tissue, greater safety, less pain”, and you would be correct. These are some of the benefits of endoscopic spine surgery. Deuk Spine Institute has used the same spinal endoscopes for nearly 20 years. FDA approved and manufactured by Richard Wolf in Germany, our spinal endoscopes are considered to have the highest quality optics and remain functionally superior to other brands.
High-Definition Camera System
“Lights, Camera and Action!” Combining the endoscope with a high-definition camera system allows the spine surgeon to see minute details within the injured spinal disc. Annular tears, the most common source of back pain, are too small to be seen with the naked eye. Their location within the back wall of an injured spinal disc makes annular tears even harder to find and treat without a surgical camera and endoscope system. Because annular tears are the most common cause of chronic back and neck pain, it is essential for the surgeon to visualize their full extent for repairs during surgery. Deuk Laser Disc Repair® uses a laser to repair painful annular tears only visible with the aid of an endoscope and camera system.
Fluoroscopy
How does a spine surgeon know where to cut, how deep to go and in what direction? Whether the surgical target is a herniated disc, bulging disc, spinal stenosis, facet arthropathy, sacroiliac joint or piriformis muscle, the surgeon relies on navigational equipment to reach it. Target identification, localization, surgical path planning and ultimately navigation are all highly complex tasks completed in the operating theatre by the spine surgeon every time an operation is performed. The most important navigational tool for spine surgery is a multiplanar fluoroscope. There are many fluoroscopes available today, both new and old, but only one stands out as the best for spine surgery and it is manufactured by Siemens in Germany. Deuk Spine Institute only uses Siemen’s fluoroscopes because they provide the highest quality images possible used to identify, plan, localize and navigate areas in the spine and joints. With lower quality or older fluoroscopes, important details are absent from the images the surgeon sees which in turn results in inaccurate targeting and navigation.
Operating Table
Spine surgery is performed with the patient asleep on a specialized table in the operating theatre. Operating tables range in quality and cost from $10,000 to over $100,000. The best operating tables provide safety and functionality for the spine surgery being performed. Deuk Spine Institute uses the Jackson Spinal Surgical Table for its procedures. This top-of-the-line operating table allows for the best patient positioning and access of surgical equipment needed to perform our proprietary procedures including Deuk Laser Disc Repair® and Deuk Plasma Rhizotomy®. Carbon fiber table components provide clear, unobstructed fluoroscopic views of the spine during the localization and navigation portions of spine surgery.
MRI Scanner
Deuk Spine Institute employs state of the art medical imaging modalities to aid in the diagnosis and treatment of spine conditions such as back pain, sciatica, radiculopathy, neck pain, herniated disc, spinal stenosis, spondylosis and neurogenic claudication. For these conditions, spinal MRI is the most important medical imaging test available to identify structural damage to the spine. MRI uses powerful magnetic fields to excite water molecules in bodily tissues. When the magnetic field is removed, energy is immediately released from these different tissues and their “signals” are captured by the MRI detector. The MRI images we see are actual averages of signal energy detected in a small area usually 1-3 mm thick. These volume averages cannot be thought of as actual slices of tissue but as an approximation of true structural composition.
