Dr. John A. White went on a virtual tour Tuesday morning. He had views from front to back, side to side and top to bottom of the inside of his patient’s sinus cavity.

White, a doctor at the head and neck clinic at Riverpark Medical Center, was trying out relatively new medical equipment called Image Guidance System.

At the same time his patient got relief for chronic headaches due to a large mass in her sinus. Just under an hour of outpatient surgery, a few hours in recovery and the patient shouldn’t feel much of anything the next day, White said.

And though White deeply explored the sinus, he hardly looked at the actual patient at all during the surgery. The new technology, as with many surgical techniques now, allows the doctor to work from three different video monitors that display the inside of the anatomy. &uot;It went great,&uot; White said after the surgery. &uot;It’s very handy, particularly if you need to precisely identify anatomy.&uot;

White has used similar technology before, but Tuesday was the first time the system had been used at Riverpark. White heard of an opportunity from the system supplier to try the equipment and he said he jumped at the chance.

The equipment will be at Riverpark for about two to three more weeks, he said, and he has a few more patients lined up for similar procedures.

&uot;It allows us greater flexibility in doing outpatient surgery,&uot; White said. &uot;It makes surgery safer for patients and there are less complications, less bleeding.&uot;

He said the new technology cuts the surgery time in half.

&uot;It’s very new, only out a couple of years,&uot; White said. &uot;The only place you really find it is at some teaching centers or larger hospitals. It is sort of unique that we have it at this setting.&uot;

White said he was interested in purchasing the technology for the center, but those decisions would depend on budget and would come later on.