From the March 2015 issue of HealthCare Business News magazine


For other cardiovascular procedures, Siemens received FDA approval in May 2014 for its Artis one Angiography System, a floor-mounted system that covers a broad range of procedures, including revascularization of peripheral vessel occlusions, diagnostic or minimally invasive angiographic treatment of narrowed coronary arteries, and pacemaker implantations. Rob Dewey, senior director of marketing for angiography imaging systems at Siemens Healthcare, says this addresses a trend of the broadening of cardiologists’ procedure mix from cardiac to the peripheral system.

“It really takes to heart this marriage of cardiac and peripheral vascular procedures,” Dewey says. Dewey says the system has a more intuitive user interface that allows the person using it to keep their eyes on the display, driving everything from a menu-driven approach on the screen. Additionally, new tools for cardiac imaging include HeartSweep, which uses dual-axis rotational angiography to image the entire heart in a single C-arm movement, instead of multiple acquisitions from different projections, which the company says has the potential to speed up procedures and reduce the amount of contrast needed. The Clearstent Live application, which was previously available on Siemens’ premium systems, such as the Artis Q and the Artis Q.zen, helps physicians more precisely position stents by freezing movement in the area of operation.


Dewey also emphasizes the system’s small footprint — 269 square feet, compared to the standard 484 square feet taken up by ceiling-mounted systems, as well as the ability to cover patients up to 6-feet- 10-inches tall without repositioning them.

Radiation risks
Using this equipment in the close confines of a cath lab, does raise concerns about radiation dose. Dr. Charles Chambers, an interventional cardiologist who serves as director of the cath lab at Penn State Hershey Medical Center and president of the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions, says cardiologists are becoming increasingly more aware of the risks of radiation and need to continually keep dose in mind for the safety of the patient.

“You need to make sure the right procedure is done with the right equipment for the right patient,” Chambers says. Chambers says other modalities may be used to reduce the need for fluoroscopic imaging. Physicians, for example, can use intra-cardiac echo and intra-vascular echo to assist in the imaging of coronary arteries or heart valves, reducing radiation during a cardiac catheterization.

March 2015 Magazine

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