Surgical implantation of STN-DBS leads using intraoperative MRI guidance: technique, accuracy, and clinical benefit at 1-year follow-up

Background Improvement of surgical accuracy during DBS-lead implantation has been described recently, leading to “frameless” or “MRI-verified“ techniques. However, combining a high-quality definition of the STN using intraoperative 1.5 MRI with the possibility to reduce errors due to co-registration and to monitor lead progression during surgical insertion while checking the absence of surgical complication is an appealing method. We report here surgical methodology, safety, application accuracy, and clinical benefit of STN-lead implantation under MRI guidance.