Siemens Healthcare has unveiled a number of new cardiology solutions as part of its Agenda 2013 sector initiative at this year’s European Society of Cardiology Congress in Amsterdam.
To support patients and clinicians, Siemens has developed products and solutions especially tailored to the diagnosis and treatment of cardiovascular diseases. These include a new cardiac catheter, clinical IT, applications for CT and MR imaging and a new system for cardiac molecular imaging.
New intra-cardiac catheter for echocardiography
Siemens is the first to offer real-time volumetric intra-cardiac echocardiography (ICE) with the ACUSON AcuNav V ultrasound catheter. Real-time ICE delivers high-quality, dose-free imaging during interventional procedures, and the ACUSON AcuNav V catheter is particularly useful during Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation surgery. By using the volumetric ICE catheter, clinicians can perform TAVI procedures while the patient is under conscious sedation rather than general anesthesia. The catheter is also useful during electrophysiology (EP) ablation procedures.
ACUSON SC2000 system with HD transducers
Siemens’ high-end ACUSON SC2000 ultrasound system enables new abdominal vascular imaging capabilities. The Abdominal Vascular Release of the echocardiography platform is equipped for the first time with a high-density curved array probe – the 6C1 HD. This new feature combines the benefits of HD transducers and IN Focus coherent imaging technology to provide high-quality images with enhanced detail resolution and ease of use in abdominal vascular imaging. Furthermore, new workflow enhancement features are available on the latest version of the ACUSON SC2000 including the Trace Assist Tool to easily trace spectral waveforms for quick vascular measurements. Also launched is the improved 4V1c transducer, featuring a significantly-smaller contact area than the previous model for easier access to rib spaces and faster examinations on difficult-to-image patients.
Full cardiac MR exam possible in less than 30 minutes
Forming part of Siemens Healthcare’s cardiac MR solutions, the Cardiac Dot Engine enables clinicians to examine the heart thoroughly in a very short period with protocols suited to each individual patient. The AutoAlign Heart expansion in the new version of the Cardiac Dot Engine plans diagnostically relevant sectional planes through the longitudinal axis of the heart automatically. To enable efficient diagnosis of vascular diseases based on MR angiography datasets, syngo.via offers the new application syngo.MR Vascular Analysis. It enables clinicians to identify vascular diseases such as stenoses, automatically quantify the vascular changes and diagnose them swiftly and efficiently.
CT software improves accuracy for TAVI procedures
CT systems provide support for minimally-invasive Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation (TAVI). Siemens Healthcare has developed new software that helps physicians determine the right valve size for the patient and establish the precise angle at which the new valve must be inserted even before the intervention in the cardiac catheterisation laboratory. This saves time and reduces the dose of contrast agent required for the patient during intervention. To select an appropriate artificial heart valve, clinicians must determine the precise dimensions of the aortic annulus. The syngo CT Cardiac Function – Valve Pilot application, in combination with 3-D CT imaging, automatically detects the annulus plane and determines the precise measurements of the annulus as the case is opened.
New cardiology information system for faster workflow
A new version of the syngo Dynamics cardiology information system supports clinicians in streamlining workflow and making improvements in clinical use. Whereas a report previously had to be fully completed before another user could access it, syngo Dynamics now allows numerous users to call up the documentation on a single study simultaneously. This means that clinicians, medical staff and technicians can work more effectively together. syngoDynamics also permits clinicians to better monitor dose and the new Automatic Study List feature helps draw up reports more quickly.
New system for molecular imaging
Siemens’ new PET-CT system, the Biograph mCT Flow, comes with two features to support cardiovascular care. HD•Cardiac enables clinicians – for the first time ever – to correct for both respiratory and cardiac motion in the heart using single-trigger dual gating. The feature One-Click phase-matched gating provides automatic accurate phase registration and quantification of PET and CT cardiac phases, aligning and synchronising PET and CT images with a single click.
