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Surgeons Using 3-D Technology To Remove Tumors

(CBS) -- When you think of 3-D glasses, most of us think of a visit to the movies. But at Chicago's Northwestern Medicine, doctors are using the technology to get an in-depth look at the brain during surgery.

CBS 2's Suzanne Le Mignot reports.

Northwestern Medicine neurosurgeon Dr. James Chandler holds a pair of 3-D glasses. Along with ear, nose and throat surgeon Dr. Robert C. Kern, he wears the special glasses while performing surgery to remove a brain tumor through patient Irina Murray's nose.

The technology "allows you to see a lot more and, most importantly, perform more confident and safer surgeries," Chandler says.

During Murray's procedure, the surgeons watch a video screen wearing the glasses, giving them an enhanced perspective.

"Dr. Chandler said he can see more. He can see a lot better and he probably was able to remove a little bit more of that cancer," the patient, Murray, says.

Murray has had four operations to remove a cancerous cardoma at the base of her brain. Her earlier surgeries were invasive, done by cutting through her jaw and the right side of her skull. She says her recent recovery has taken days, instead of weeks.

"I feel great now," she says.

Kern says using the new technology has been rewarding.

"When you see the patients, back, up and around so fast, just as though they had typical nasal surgery, which I do on a regular basis. It's quite satisfying," he says.

Northwestern Medicine is one of only three hospitals in the nation using 3D technology to remove tumors at the base of the skull.

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