Mercy Health — The Neuroscience Institute
Letter from the Director Zubair Ahammad, DO Department Chair People seek out neurosurgeons every year for a variety of complaints such as back pain, hand numbness, brain tumors or emergencies like brain bleeds. Neurosurgery represents a vast specialty dealing with surgical treatments for conditions affecting the nervous system, ranging from life-threatening to those affecting quality of life. These conditions often require a skilled, multidisciplinary approach oriented towards proper diagnosis and treatment, escalating from nonsurgical to surgical measures when appropriate. Our neurosurgery department coordinates with a multitude of specialists including physiatry, pain management, oncology, neurology, radiation oncology and therapists, amongst many others, to ensure comprehensive, patient-centered care. A recent renovation and expansion at Mercy Health - St. Vincent Medical Center focused on creating a more seamless patient experience by collocating the inpatient Neurology unit, Neuro Intensive Care Unit and dedicated Epilepsy Monitoring Unit on one floor and added collaborative spaces for our multidisciplinary team of experts. Our robust neurosurgical team consists of four experienced neurosurgeons with individual niche areas, and an extensive network of physician extenders spanning the inpatient, outpatient and surgical realms. Our flagship hospital, Mercy Health – St. Vincent Medical Center, is a Level 1 Trauma Center, Comprehensive Stroke Center, and Level 2 Pediatric Trauma Center. In addition to caring for severe neurotrauma patients, we care for complicated vascular conditions of the brain and spinal cord in coordination with our interventional neurology colleagues and our neuro critical care specialists. We offer cutting-edge technology incorporated into our diagnostic processes and surgical interventions to allow for improved outcomes and smoother recovery while maintaining compassionate care. At our disposal are a multitude of tools including gamma knife radiosurgery, Medtronic Stealth stereotactic navigation for brain and spinal surgery, and robotic spinal surgery. For optimized treatment of brain tumors, we have advanced MRI techniques including Omniscient cloud-based tractography and functional MRI capabilities, awake brain surgery, intraoperative fluoroscopy along with endoscopic brain surgery when appropriate. Amidst a daunting diagnosis, our neurosurgery department is dedicated to ensuring efficient, coordinated care to prolong and enrich the quality of life. We are committed to using our prowess of expertise and technology to strive for optimal results and patient satisfaction. Office locations Mercy Health — The Neuroscience Institute, St. Vincent 2222 Cherry St., MOB2, Suite M200 Toledo, OH 43608 Mercy Health — The Neuroscience Institute, St. Luke's 5757 Monclova Rd., Suite 15 Maumee, Ohio 43537 Mercy Health — The Neuroscience Institute, Perrysburg 12623 Eckel Junction Rd., Suite 2600 Perrysburg, OH 43551 Mercy Health — The Neuroscience Institute, Oregon 2600 Navarre Avenue., Surgical Specialist Suite Oregon, OH 43616 Mercy Health — The Neuroscience Institute, Defiance 1400 E. Second St. Defiance, OH 43512 Program Overview At Mercy Health — The Neuroscience Institute, our neurosurgeons use some of the most advanced techniques and technology in medicine. From awake brain surgery to Gamma Knife - non-invasive stereotactic radiosurgery that involves no scalpel or incision to treat brain tumors. They also perform innovative procedures in back pain and spine care, including motion preserving and disc replacement spine surgery, as well as revision spine surgery. Patient Testimonials See how are patients are sharing their stories. Clinical Trials Learn more about our available and completed clinical trials. Mercy Health Foundation Patients fighting neurological conditions at Mercy Health – The Neuroscience Institute often struggle to afford even daily essentials. You can help brain tumor patients cover out-of-pocket healthcare costs by making a donation here: Donor link Treatment and Technology: A comprehensive specialty involving the brain, spine and nervous system, offering expert treatment and support for the full range of neurological conditions including, but not limited to: Spine: Cervical degenerative disease Cervical radiculopathy Cervical stenosis and myelopathy Compression fractures Kyphoplasty Lumbar degenerative disease Lumbar radiculopathy Lumbar stenosis and neurogenic claudication Spinal deformities and injuries Spinal osteomyelitis and discitis Spinal trauma Spinal tumors Brain: AVMs Awake craniotomy Brain aneurysms Brain infections Brain tumors Cavernomas Chiari malformation Gliomas Hydrocephalus Meningiomas Metastatic disease Pituitary tumors Traumatic brain injury Trigeminal neuralgia Vascular neurosurgery Innovative procedures: Endoscopic neurosurgery Gamma Knife radiosurgery Minimally invasive craniotomy Motion preservation spine surgery Motion restoration spine surgery Robotic-assisted minimally invasive spine surgery Other services available: Carpal tunnel and peripheral nerve surgery Neurotrauma Pediatric neurosurgery Second opinion clinic Technology The Center also offers the following treatments and technologies: Intraoperative fluorescence imaging for tumor Intraoperative fluorescence imaging helps neurosurgeons remove malignant brain tumors that have poorly defined borders. High-grade gliomas may have a central mass, but they often extend tentacles of tumor cells into adjacent brain tissue. Surgeons can identify these cells more easily when they are illuminated and made to fluoresce with special medications. Intraoperative ultrasound and electrophysiology Surgeons use various types of intraoperative electrophysiology during surgery to make sure they do not cause harm during tumor removal. This important technology is critical when surgeons operate near “functional” tracts – areas involved with movement, balance and coordination. Evoked potential monitoring is used during surgery for acoustic neuromas to ensure that the facial nerve is not harmed. When surgeons remove a tumor, the brain adjusts to the vacancy by shifting. Intraoperative ultrasound is a type of real-time image guidance that helps surgeons understand how the brain is adjusting during tumor removal. Intraoperative ultrasound also enables surgeons to ensure that blood flow to the brain continues unimpaired during the procedure. Awake craniotomy A craniotomy is a procedure in which neurosurgeons remove part of the skull. In some delicate procedures, this is done while the patient is awake so that the surgeon can use brain-mapping techniques to avoid critical functional areas, such as speech or arm movement. The patient performs tasks, such as reading, while the exposed brain is stimulated. The patient feels no pain. Endoscopic brain surgery Endoscopic surgery is minimally invasive surgery in which surgeons make small, keyhole incisions in the skull, eyelid or nose, and use long slender instrumentation (endoscopes) to remove tumors located deep within the brain. Endoscopic surgery is often performed during skull base surgery, with tumors being removed through the nose. Mazor-x Stealth Edition stereotactic navigation The robotic guidance platform combines preoperative planning tools and analytics with intraoperative guidance, giving Mercy Health surgeons advanced spinal surgery options. Our surgical robotic guidance technology allows our surgeons to visualize your patient's anatomy and pre-plan their surgery in 3D, and then use robotic guidance to execute their procedure. Robotic guided surgery has many benefits for the patients including smaller incisions, less risk for surgical complications and reduced postoperative pain. Gamma Knife radiosurgery Gamma Knife is non-invasive stereotactic radiosurgery that involves no scalpel or incision – it is not a knife at all. Instead, Gamma Knife uses up to 192 precisely focused beams of radiation to treat lesions in virtually any location in the brain with ultra-high precision and minimal effect on healthy tissue. This treatment requires minimal recovery time – when receiving treatment, patients are typically in and out in a single day. Mercy Health – Perrysburg Cancer Center is the first and only center in the greater Toledo area to offer brain tumor patients the benefits of Gamma Knife. Omnicent cloud -based brain mapping technology Mercy Health – The Neuroscience Institute is the first in Ohio to offer Omniscient Neurotechnology’s Quicktome. This is an FDA-cleared precision brain mapping platform designed to visualize a patient’s unique brain networks prior to surgery. The neurosurgeons can create network templates of an individual’s cognitive and emotional regulation networks within the brain, allowing them to tailor surgical approaches to a patient's individualized anatomy. This helps the neurosurgeons achieve the maximal safe removal of the tumor while avoiding adjacent brain networks. Meet the Team
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