Dr. Robert Masson, founder of NeuroSpine Institute, is an internationally recognized neurosurgeon who is continuing to put Central Florida on the map in the healthcare world. Cutting-edge spinal care techniques like iMAS (interpedicular minimal access surgery) are helping patients get back to work, back to their lives, and back to the sports they love.
The iMAS Procedure
Dr. Masson developed the iMAS procedure in 2001 for minimally invasive lumbosacral spinal decompression, reconstruction and stabilization. This procedure streamlined an otherwise cumbersome surgery by arranging all of the products and sequences synergistically into one solution. In the past, each phase of the surgery was completed in different stages, bringing three systems – and many trays of tools – into the operating room.
“Our goal is not to disable you with an aggressive surgery but get you back to being an athletic person,” Dr. Masson says. “We’re trying to do that in a way that minimizes trauma.”
Dr. Masson has used this technique in 4,300 successful surgeries and is the chairman of the iMAS procedure’s education, product development and research for Depuy Synthes Spine, a Johnson and Johnson company. Each month, Dr. Masson trains five to ten visiting surgeons on the iMAS procedure at Health Central.
An Exciting Year Ahead
NeuroSpine Institute recently extended its facility to include an outpatient surgery center in West Orlando, which already has an influx of patients scheduled for iMAS procedures, artificial disc surgeries and more throughout 2014. Any healthy patient can opt for an outpatient surgery, while those with existing medical conditions requiring hospital care are encouraged to schedule their surgery at one of NeuroSpine Institute’s affiliated hospitals. “It’s about the person’s health, not the surgery,” Dr. Masson says. “We’re shrinking the costs for healthy people, which is an incentive to keep healthy and lean.”
Even more, the iMAS procedure will be launched globally this month. Dr. Masson will be the keynote speaker at Johnson and Johnson’s international sales meeting, which will be held at the JW Marriott in Orlando, to introduce the procedure to the global market. Through this project, NeuroSpine Institute is bringing Fortune 500 companies, global procedural launches and healthcare education right here to Central Florida. “We’re representing Central Florida as more than just a nice place to live,” Dr. Masson says.
With Dr. Masson’s role as a global leader and educator for advancements in spinal surgeries, and NeuroSpine Institute’s passion for future industry development, the world will have its eyes on Central Florida.