Technical requirements for image-guided spine procedures workshop questionnaire summary

Dramatic advances have been made in image-guided procedures in the brain over the past few years but relatively little attention has been given to other regions of the body such as the spine. A workshop titled "Technical Requirements for Image-Guided Spine Procedures" was conducted 17-20 April 1999 that reviewed the barriers to progress in this field and identified the technical and professional developments required to move ahead. The general objective of the workshop was to determine the technical requirements for image-guided procedures in the spinal column, spinal cord, and paraspinal region. Before the workshop, a questionnaire was sent to all the participants asking them to identify barriers to progress and areas for future research. The questionnaire results are presented in this paper.