Philips premiers next generation image-guided therapy platform

Royal Philips has announced the next generation of its Azurion image-guided therapy platform. The company says it marks a step forward in optimising clinical and operational laboratory performance and expanding the role of image-guided interventions in treatment.

Since its introduction three years ago the platform has already been used in well over two million procedures worldwide and this latest version advances its capabilities to improve the quality and efficiency of interventional procedures.

In order to enhance clinician focus and control during procedures, Philips has integrated all the essential laboratory systems and tools. The platform now incorporates control of imaging, physiology, haemodynamic and informatics applications, as well as intuitive control of the gantry at the table side, allowing clinicians to control all compatible applications from a single touch screen while performing procedures. This can eliminate the need for clinicians to leave the sterile field and step into an adjacent control room, as well as supporting faster and better informed decision making.

With this platform, Philips is also introducing the SmartCT 3D imaging solution. Users are guided through the image acquisition and can review and interact with acquired CT-like 3D images on the table side touch screen module using 3D visualisation and measurement tools. These tools have been designed to support procedures in a range of clinical domains, including neurology, oncology and cardiovascular procedures. The use of 3D imaging such as 3DRA or cone beam CT during interventional procedures has been shown to improve outcomes and reduce radiation dose for staff and patients, states Philips.

“The integrated platform enables us to efficiently carry out complex interventions at any time using a wide range of functions such as IVUS and iFR co-registration,” said cardiac cath lab head Dr Alexander Becker at the Robert Bosch Hospital in Stuttgart, Germany, one of the first hospitals to use the new platform. “The use of the control panel is intuitive, combining different sources of information to make patient evaluation much easier and faster.”

Picture: With the new Azurion platform, clinicians can switch between imaging, physiology, haemodynamic and informatics applications, including SmartCT and IntraSight.

Published on page 12 of the October 2020 issue of RAD Magazine.