LVHN First in Pennsylvania to Use SeaSpine’s FLASH™ Navigation System With 7D Technology

Lehigh Valley Health Network is the first in Pennsylvania to use a new operating-room navigation system that provides a radiation-free tool for placing spinal implants.

“The system allows for increased safety of putting in the instrumentation, increased speed and less radiation for patients in the operating room” - Christopher Henderson, MD.

SeaSpine’s FLASH™ navigation system, featuring 7D technology, virtually replaces standard fluoroscopy, a type of X-ray, for spinal procedures. Its first use was at the newly opened Lehigh Valley Hospital (LVH)–Dickson City, near Scranton.

“As a spinal surgeon at LVH–Dickson City, the 7D technology provides me with more information when placing hardware in the spine, because I can see the anatomy in 3D,” said Christopher Henderson, MD, with Lehigh Valley Orthopedic Institute. “It allows me to offer my patients the very latest technology in spine surgery.”

Henderson said the 7D system quickly takes detailed images of the patient’s spine through the incision, then calibrates those images with a preoperative low-dose computed tomography (CT) scan to enable extremely high precision in the placement of rods and screws.

“The system allows for increased safety of putting in the instrumentation, increased speed and less radiation for patients in the operating room,” Henderson said, noting advantages in treating conditions such as scoliosis or other deformities of the spine. Faster procedures also mean less time the patient is under anesthesia, which also can reduce recovery time.

Lehigh Valley Orthopedic Institute is training other orthopedic surgeons on the SeaSpine system and will expand its use to other LVHN hospitals.

Kim Jordan, president, LVH–Dickson City, said providing state-of-the-art technology to Dickson City and Lackawanna County is a hallmark of the new hospital. “This underscores our commitment to patient care and the communities we serve,” she said. “It ensures we have the right tools to protect our patients and enhance patient care.”

According to SeaSpine, the FLASH navigation system is the first and only platform that features 7D technology, which uses machine-vision cameras and advanced algorithms for image-guided surgery. For the first-time, spine surgeons can guide their tools to the critical anatomy using sophisticated camera technology linked to a computer in the operating room. The underlying technology is similar to that used in the latest self-driving automobiles.