Healthcare Industry News: Cardiac PET
News Release - September 7, 2006
Philips Introduces Advanced Hybrid-Imaging Technology and Expanded Information Management Capabilities to Enhance Diagnosis and Treatment for Cardiac Patients
New SPECT/CT, Cardiovascular IT and PET/CT Technologies, Clinical Data and Company Milestones Demonstrate Philips Leadership in Nuclear CardiologyANDOVER, Mass.--(HSMN NewsFeed)--Sept. 7, 2006--Philips Medical Systems, a division of Royal Philips Electronics (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHI), is showcasing advances in its portfolio of leading nuclear cardiology solutions at the American Society of Nuclear Cardiology (ASNC) annual meeting, September 7-9 in Montreal, Canada. The Precedence 64-slice SPECT/CT is the only hybrid-imaging system that delivers comprehensive cardiac management on a single imaging platform, and the latest version of Xcelera extends its patient-centric approach to image and information management to the nuclear cardiology domain. Philips will also display the GEMINI TF PET/CT system to feature advances in evaluation and analysis of cardiac disease.
Other highlights include the 1,000th installation of the CardioMD gamma camera and data validating the benefits of computed tomography (CT) angiography.
Hybrid-imaging capabilities of Precedence 64 reinforce Philips leadership in SPECT/CT
The Precedence family of hybrid-imaging SPECT/CT is one of the industry's most advanced imaging systems capable of dedicated SPECT and diagnostic CT as well as sophisticated hybrid-imaging. The introduction of the 64-slice Precedence advances the capability of the platform by performing uncompromised cardiac imaging on patients who can benefit from the imaging procedure.
"CT improves SPECT imaging on multiple levels," said John Mahmarian, M.D., director of nuclear cardiology at The Methodist Hospital in Houston, Texas. "For patients with normal myocardial perfusion scans, equivocal nuclear studies or abnormal myocardial perfusion scans, hybrid SPECT/CT can improve care tremendously by helping identify early disease states and clarify diagnostic ambiguity."
The Precedence 64-slice SPECT/CT can produce CT-based attenuation correction and perform advanced cardiac CT procedures such as calcium scoring and CTA in one episode of care, on one system. It can also produce SPECT myocardial perfusion imaging in half the time of conventional scanners.
Xcelera expands into nuclear cardiology domain with new modalities, integrated workflow and patient-centric work-space design
Philips is introducing a new release of its integrated cardiovascular information solution, the Philips Xcelera R2.1, which now integrates exam results from all key cardiology subspecialties - interventional cardiology, cardiovascular ultrasound, ECG, nuclear cardiology, cardiac CT, cardiac MR and electrophysiology. This advanced cardiovascular solution for documentation, viewing, quantification and reporting tasks, provides clinicians with access to relevant images and information on patients across the hospital from a single workspace.
"Integration is among the most critical necessities facing the cardiovascular world today," said Oran Muduroglu, chief executive officer, Healthcare Informatics, for Philips Medical Systems. "With this new release of Xcelera, we've streamlined workflow by providing instant access to all relevant images and information--across all cardiovascular modalities--at one location."
In addition to managing examination results in a patient centric-manner, the new release of Xcelera also brings a variety of new or enhanced clinical and reporting tools for 2D and 3D Echo, Cardiovascular X-Ray, Nuclear Cardiology (powered by AutoQuant), 2D and 3D Cardiac CT and MR, as well as for managing EP recording and mapping information. The new design of results management and availability of new and enhanced clinical tools enables cardiac professionals to more efficiently diagnose a patient's condition and subsequently make more informed decisions about the method of treatment.
Xcelera 2.1 is pending regulatory clearance in the United States but currently available outside North America.
Philips PET technology is creating a new benchmark in the evaluation and analysis of cardiovascular disease
The latest addition to the GEMINI product family, the GEMINI TF PET/CT, combines PET myocardial perfusion and viability data with coronary artery angiography from CT in a single integrated environment. GEMINI TF with TruFlight time-of-flight technology delivers improved spatial resolution and high sensitivity resulting in improved image quality when imaging the short-lived radiopharmaceuticals associated with Cardiac PET.
The system is available in two configurations: 16-slice and 64-channel Brilliance CT. The Brilliance 64-channel CT is well-suited to cardiac imaging with its wide-coverage submillimeter imaging, ultra fast acquisition times and Rate Responsive image acquisition technology that adapts to the patient's heart rate and rhythm. GEMINI TF 16-slice is available in the market today, while full commercial release of the GEMINI TF 64-channel is expected in Q4, 2006.
Philips celebrates 1,000th installation of CardioMD worldwide
Launched in 2001 as the first compact fixed-90 nuclear cardiology gamma camera in the industry and now in its third generation, Philips recently installed its 1,000th CardioMD system. CardioMD's lightweight design and small footprint allow even the smallest practices to obtain full nuclear cardiac imaging functionality. The patient-friendly open gantry design provides easy patient access and allows claustrophobic patients to be imaged.
"We found that CardioMD image quality is equal to and at times better than larger field of view gamma cameras when we have imaged patients with both systems," said Gary Heller, M.D., director of nuclear cardiology at Hartford Hospital. "We are also using CardioMD with VantagePro attenuation correction, which works extremely well. We use it on a daily basis and our experience has been nothing but positive."
Study reveals that cardiovascular CT can help patients avoid invasive catheterization
The Cleveland Clinic recently announced the results of "Coronary Assessment by Computed Tomographic Scanning & Catheter Angiography (CATSCAN): A Multi-Center Trial(1)," which found that 37 percent of patients evaluated who presented coronary disease symptoms could have avoided catheterization through a CT angiography. The study, which was published in the July 26, 2006, issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, used Philips Brilliance 16-slice cardiovascular CT systems to examine participants.
CATSCAN reveals that cardiovascular CT can help patients avoid invasive catheterization. The results also indicate that a negative finding on CTA virtually eliminates the possibility of having significant coronary artery disease, meaning that if no significant narrowing is seen by CTA, there is good agreement with coronary angiography.
For more information on Philips products and solutions please visit ASNC booth #508.
About Royal Philips Electronics
Royal Philips Electronics of the Netherlands (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHI) is one of the world's biggest electronics companies and Europe's largest, with sales of $37.7 billion (EUR 30.4 billion) in 2005. With activities in the three interlocking domains of healthcare, lifestyle and technology and 158,000 employees in more than 60 countries, it has market leadership positions in medical diagnostic imaging and patient monitoring, color television sets, electric shavers, lighting and silicon system solutions. News from Philips is located at www.philips.com/newscenter.
(1) Mario J. Garcia, MD, et. al; "Accuracy of 16-Row Multidetector Computed Tomography for the Assessment of Coronary Artery Stenosis", JAMA, July 26, 2006-Vol 296, No.4) on Computed Tomography Angiography (CTA).
Source: Philips Medical Systems
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