The CX Imaging Day provided a comprehensive programme of state-of-the-art imaging that is applied to the aorta, carotid, peripheral arteries and veins, including planning and using hybrid theatres, robotics, 3D fusion and guidance, intravascular ultrasound, perfusion angiography, cone beam computed tomography and carbon dioxide angiography.
This year’s Imaging Day was divided into two parts, giving attendees the opportunity for maximum learning and understanding. The morning session saw the presentation of the latest data in the Olympia Room Learning Centre, while in the afternoon, various imaging providers, including Philips, GE Healthcare, Siemens, Hansen Medical, Volcano and Ziehm Imaging, hosted “Ask the Expert” workshops at their stands in the Exhibition Hall. These workshops allow attendees to interact in small groups with the experts and to look at the imaging systems and tools, providing them with a unique view of the technology.
GE Healthcare
GE Healthcare took the opportunity to show the flow of its solutions from sizing to the 3D fusion from table side. There was also focus on dose optimisation management.
Alejandra Gonzalez, European marketing product manager for Interventional Systems at GE explained, “We provided an educational framework where we raised awareness of the key elements that physicians need to take care of in order to reduce the dose or optimise the dose strategy. We wanted to do it in an educational way and at the same time a more interactive way as well.”
Guiding the presentations and providing personal input were physician experts Stephan Haulon (Lille, France) and Adrien Hertault (Lille, France). Haulon explained what took place saying, “we showed the attendees a couple of cases that were sized on a workstation so they had the ability to actually manipulate the workstation and then we had them do a fusion registration to show them how straightforward a technology it is and how user friendly it is. We also had a big focus on dose exposure which is a real concern for vascular surgeons today because we are doing more and more radiation exposure procedures. We had a quiz which stirred a lot of questions and debates. So this was actually quite passionate and really interesting.”
Commenting on the workshop Haulon added, “There was a lot of interaction and those people would never stand up in a large room to ask a question, whereas here they were very enthusiastic about sharing their comments and asking us for more details so I think it was a very valuable workshop.”
Hansen Medical
Hansen Medical presented the Magellan robotic system which helps physicians navigate through the vasculature. Joe Guido, vice president marketing and business development explained that the system is designed to “make the procedure more efficient and more predictable for physicians and also allows physicians to stay out of the field of radiation. The robotic system will drive robotic catheters that you can shape and control without having to do exchanges for other catheters.”
Physician experts Barry Katzen (Miami, USA) and Celia Riga (London, UK) presented their experiences with intravascular robotics and the Magellan robotic system.
Guido commented on the workshop saying that many physicians are very curious about the technology and the practical applications and how it can benefit them and their practice. “An expert is much more accessible at the stand and it is a much more intimate environment. It encourages physicians to listen to the presentation and then speak to the experts and ask one-on-one questions,” he said.
Philips
Philips presented its technology and had physician experts Frank Vermassen (Ghent, Belgium) and Jim Reekers (Amsterdam, Netherlands) on hand to answer queries from physician-attendees. Philips demonstrators showcased the company’s technology including the VesselNavigator, a live image guidance solution; 2D Perfusion; Veradius Unity, a C-arm with flat detector; and gave advice on considerations when purchasing a hybrid room.
Commenting on the Veradius Unity, Philips demonstrator Marianne Kwakernaat said that the technology was developed, “to help get a more united team in the OR because there was a lot of frustration between doctors and operators who did not understand each other, so we made a lot of improvements to our systems to first, make it more easy to communicate, so we added some tools, and second, we made a new touchscreen which is very interactive and easy to use.”
She added that the workshop was a good vehicle to give the physicians the opportunity to see the products and figure out which one is most suitable to their hospital and their uses.
Siemens
Siemens showcased the complete workflow for EVAR procedures, starting with the preoperational CT scan. The company also gave attendees the opportunity to see the PURE software technology for the Artis zeego.
Dirk Sunderbrink, business manager, Therapy Systems at Siemens described the system saying, “It allows the vascular surgeon 2D and 3D registration with much less dose and in much less time than with previous systems. This PURE software guides the vascular surgeon through the procedure automatically to have fusion imaging available to guide them through the procedures.” He added, “The teaching opportunity is important to us because there are presentations, but it is much easier to really see it hands-on.”
Dittmar Böckler (Heidelberg, Germany) was on hand providing an expert position, giving attendees the opportunity to ask questions about the Siemens technology.
Volcano
Volcano showcased its intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) system, which provides detailed and accurate measurements of lumen and vessel size, plaque area and volume, and the location of key anatomical landmarks.
Physician expert Fabrizio Fanelli (Rome, Italy) was present to give his personal perspective of the technology and to answer attendees’ queries. At the stand, demonstrations were done showing real time sizing and procedure assessment with reduced exposure and contrast.
Volcano demonstrator Fiorella De Nicolais explained that the IVUS technology helps differentiate the four plaque types: fibrous, fibro-fatty, necrotic core and dense calcium.
She added that, “Not everyone knows IVUS, or the way it works or the benefits of using it, so the workshop is about getting more details and learning how the technology works.”
Ziehm Imaging
Ziehm Imaging featured its mobile hybrid room concept which consists of a mobile C-arm that has all the imaging capabilities of a fixed, installed hybrid room—high power imaging, a liquid cooling system, flat panel technology, fully motorised movements.
Visitors to the stand heard presentations from experts Wolfgang Keller (Nuremberg, Germany) and Peter Goverde (Antwerp, Belgium), who spoke about Ziehm’s mobile interventional suite and their clinical experiences with a mobile hybrid OR.
Summarising, Axel Kouril from Ziehm Imaging said, “As opposed to fixed installed hybrid ORs which are very expensive and have additional installations costs of enforcing the floor or the ceiling, and lead protection, this system has the size of a normal mobile C-arm and the imaging capabilities of a fixed installed system (up to 90%), but it is cheaper, it is mobile, and more flexible.”
