Glenn Brown's job loading Wonder Bread trucks was sidetracked nearly a year ago when back problems got the best of him.

"I was having problems straightening up and had pins and needles in my feet and legs," said Brown, 53, of Lake Village.

Earlier this week, Brown underwent surgery at St. Margaret Mercy in Dyer with help from the hospital's newly installed O-ARM Imaging System.

The nearly $1 million machine allowed surgeon Patrick Sweeney to view multidimensional images of Brown's spine during the operation. The hospital is one of only a few in the Chicago area with the O-ARM, which is used mostly for spinal surgery or to repair traumas, Sweeney said.

It's expected to be used in the future for operations on the brain and the ear, nose and throat, he said.

The nearly 6-foot-tall system, shaped like an O, surrounds a portion of the patient's body as it lies on the operating table and sends images in about 30 seconds, providing surgeons with pictures not offered by other technologies, Sweeney said.

Since the O-ARM arrived at St. Margaret Mercy in May, Sweeney said he has used it in minimally invasive operations to take away bones putting pressure on spinal nerves, to infuse graft material to spread vertebrae apart and other delicate procedures.

"It allows you to pretty much guarantee the positioning of implants and screws," Sweeney said. "The precision level goes way up, and when you get that level of imaging it allows you to do more things."

Patients spend less time in the hospital, suffer less muscle damage and have faster recoveries because of the technology, Sweeney said.

Brown had pulled a groin muscle in September 2006, causing him to overcompensate for the injury and leading to his back problems, the Teamsters Union member said.

"You're just put in a situation where you're not comfortable having to walk any distance or pick something up or put it down," Brown said.

Recovering this week from the Monday surgery, Brown said he has been able to take steps without a cane and hopes to return to his job in the future.

He only vaguely remembers seeing the O-ARM in the operating room, but there are things about it he likes.

"Instead of having to slice you open, all you have is a few little cuts," he said. "I love the idea that you seem to heal up a lot quicker and go back to the things you were doing."