In “Ichilov” a cancerous tumor deep in the brain was burned while awake. Watch:

2023-04-20 14:45:00

At the Ichilov Medical Center in Tel Aviv, they recently performed an operation to burn a cancerous tumor deep in the brain, using a laser, with the patient awake throughout the process.

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In “Ichilov” it was reported that Amir Kolban, 69 years old, is the first patient in Israel to undergo an innovative procedure to destroy a cancerous tumor deep in the brain by burning it with a laser beam while fully awake.

Kolban, choreographer and artistic director of a dance troupe, was diagnosed with deep brain cancer about a year ago. “Little tics started to appear,” he said. “After seeing that they were not passing, I decided to go and get checked.”

Kolban was referred to Dr. Ido Strauss, director of the functional neurosurgery unit in the neurosurgical unit, who said: “The tumor was located deep in the brain in an area close to language and motor areas. When I talked with Amir about the therapeutic options, the therapeutic option of burning the tumor using a laser beam was also brought up. He surprised me and asked me, in view of the fact that the tumor is in a critical area, will it be possible to perform this procedure awake? I replied to him,” said Dr. Strauss, “that we have not yet performed this procedure in Israel while awake and I am ready to check the feasibility of such an operation.”

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“It was important to me that the motor and cognitive areas be preserved during the procedure and I had to try it because it is the least dangerous and invasive for me,” explained Kolben. Indeed, two months ago the procedure was performed, with Kolban fully awake throughout the entire operation.

The laser burn operation combines minimally invasive laser technology and an advanced MRI scan that enables real-time control of the size of the burned area in the brain. The treatment process includes in the first stage the implantation of a fine optical fiber precisely into the center of the tumor using a surgical robot, through a tiny drilling hole in the skull with a diameter of about 3 mm.

In the second stage, which is carried out in the MRI device, the optical fiber is connected to the Visualase laser system in order to perform the burning itself while precisely controlling the increase in temperature in the tumor which leads to its destruction.

“This time the burn was performed while the patient was lying awake inside the MRI machine, a fact that made it possible to combine the advantages of laser surgery with continuous neurological monitoring in order to make sure that brain areas adjacent to the burn area, which are responsible for critical functions, are not damaged,” explained Dr. Strauss.

Kolban underwent the operation successfully and was released to his home the very next day. “A week after the surgery I went back to dancing,” he says, “and at the same time I continue to receive immunotherapy treatments that keep the disease in a static state.”