Stanford neurosurgeon Melanie Hayden, MD, can now use intraoperative MRI and feedback from an awake patient to make tumor resection safer and more effective. In this video, Hayden, an assistant professor of neurosurgery, explains how neurosurgeons at the Stanford Brain Tumor Center now apply this higher level of MRI imaging during surgery to immediately visualize whether enough of the tumor has been removed or if they should continue removing tumor cells.

Stanford doctors are also using genetic analysis of brain tumors to make treatment decisions that are much more precise to each patient. “We’ve figured out the right patient for the right procedure and that has improved outcomes significantly,” Hayden said. She specializes in the most complex surgeries to remove brain tumors, cancerous and benign, averaging about 100 surgeries each year.

In addition to her clinical practice, she also conducts research into neurological cancers. That research has produced more than 25 journal publications and won recognition from the NIH and other awards. Hayden received her seven-year training in neurosurgery at Stanford Health Care. She also has the benefit now of the new Stanford Neuroscience Health Center, where doctors and other clinicians from 21 neurological subspecialties work together in an environment designed with guidance from people with neurological disorders. The Center offers a complete range of services from diagnosis to treatment in one location.