RUNNING AGAIN: Ski instructor Nik Ang, 35, underwent surgery with the aid of the O-Arm, which works like a 'GPS' of the spine. -- ST PHOTO: MUGILAN RAJASEGERAN

Called the O-Arm, the machine takes approximately 400 pictures in 30 seconds to construct an image of the spine that helps doctors insert implants, rods and screws more accurately during operations.

Spine surgeons at the hospital have been using the new device, which cost about US$1 million (S$1.5 million), since March. Some 50 spinal operations have been performed using it.

The scanner is made up of a computerised navigation system and a doughnut-shaped telescoping gantry which can take pictures of the patient's spine over 360 degrees.

Associate Professor Tan Seang Beng, head of orthopaedic surgery at SGH, said the technology acts like a Global Positioning System (GPS) of the spine.

With it, surgeons can be more precise about the size of the rods and screws needed and where to place them. These metal implants restore disc height and allow for normal spinal motion.

He said: 'We can determine the diameter and length of the screw used, as well as the angle at which the surgeon can insert implants into the spine without hitting the nerves.'

Prof Tan said current CT scanners allow only two-dimensional pictures of the spine, while the use of X-rays may not be able to detect up to 10 to 15 per cent of badly placed implants in the spine, even when the operations are carried out by experienced surgeons.

The radiation emitted by the new scanner is also between half and two-thirds of that given out by a normal CT scanner as it uses a cone beam and pulsed X-ray source.

He said SGH is the 14th hospital in the world to own such a scanner. The other 13 are in hospitals in the United States and Germany.

The scanner is funded by the Ministry of Health and patients do not have to pay more for operations, he added.

Over 800 major spine operations are done each year at SGH, compared to between 200 and 300 five years ago. The majority need implants.

According to Prof Tan, one in five Singaporeans suffers from neck and back pain.

Surgery becomes necessary when severe pain persists despite treatment, or when there are worsening neurological symptoms, such as weakness, spasms and heaviness of the limbs.

One patient who has had spinal surgery using the new O-Arm is ski instructor Nik Ang, 35. In his youth, Mr Ang was a keen participant in high-impact sports such as wakeboarding, snowboarding and parachuting, which had a lasting impact on his back.

'The constant whiplash and falling on my back probably did me in,' he said.

Mr Ang had a vertebral disc replaced in his neck two years ago. 'At the beginning of this year, I felt a hot searing pain in my right ankle. I knew it was from pinched nerves in my back,' he said.

He was operated on using the new technology to put implants into his lower back in April. Six months after surgery, Mr Ang has started running again. 'I am looking forward to going back to the slopes this winter,' he said.