Patent ID: 7744607

Claim:
A method of using a flexible marking catheter for placement in a selected position in a body using a frameless stereotaxy system, comprising: (a) obtaining pre-operative images of a patient's brain to determine the margins of a brain lesion; (b) positioning the patient in a surgical field; (c) registering the position of the patient in the surgical field with the pre-operative images in a frameless stereotaxy system; (d) providing a flexible marking catheter including a flexible catheter body made of a flexible material and having a closed distal end and an open proximal end and sized to removably fit on a frameless stereotaxy system probe; (e) mounting the flexible marking catheter on a frameless stereotaxy system probe; (f) positioning the flexible marking catheter in a selected position in the patient's brain along a margin of the brain lesion using the frameless stereotaxy system probe and the frameless stereotaxy system to guide the positioning of the flexible marking catheter along the margin of the brain lesion based on the pre-operative images; (g) removing the frameless stereotaxy system probe from the flexible marking catheter such that the flexible marking catheter remains in the patient's brain at the selected position therein after the frameless stereotaxy system probe is removed from the flexible marking catheter; (h) cutting off the flexible marking catheter remaining in the patient's brain near a surface of the brain; and (i) removing the brain lesion to expose the flexible marking catheter.