Northern Michigan's News LeaderHealthy Living: GPS Guided Pelvic Surgery

A broken pelvis is a painful injury and often a difficult one to repair. Many organs, nerves and blood vessels lie within the pelvis, so getting to the bones can be tricky. Now, surgeons are using new technology to fix the problem. Robyn Haines has your Healthy Living.

Jenna Quarne will never forget the terrifying bike ride she recently took. Her bike got caught in railway tracks -- and the momentum of the downward hill kicked in. Jenna shattered her pelvis and needed surgery to repair it. Her doctor used computer-guided navigation to fix Jenna's fracture.

Instead of having to take numerous x-rays during the surgery, the doctor uses the computer software to plan the procedure. First, sensors are placed on the pelvis. Then, the system turns cat scans into a 3-D model. The computer creates a roadmap, much like a GPS, that tells the surgeons precisely where to place the bone-repairing screws.

The navigation method means better accuracy, possible quicker surgery, and fewer pieces of hardware. Also, since surgeons don't have to keep taking x-rays there's less radiation exposure.

The doctor says he's one of only about five surgeons in the country using this software for this type of surgery. The software was just recently FDA-approved for this procedure and a few other orthopedic applications.