ZGT Almelo will be the first hospital in the Netherlands to receive the ARTIS Pheno from Siemens Healthineers. This angiographic system features a robotic arm that can fully rotate around the patient, allowing for both a 2D and 3D view during blood vessel examinations.
"An angiography is an examination of the blood vessels. For this, a hollow needle is inserted into the femoral artery. Through this needle, a tube (catheter) can be inserted into the blood vessels, which is used to inject contrast medium into the blood vessels. This contrast medium allows the blood vessels to be seen clearly on X-ray images and the diseased vessels to be clearly visualised. An angiography can be diagnostic to investigate where health problems come from, but also therapeutic where any problems can be remedied immediately. You can think of blood vessel dilation (widening narrowed vessels with a balloon) or the placement of a stent, a small tube placed in the blood vessel to keep it open," explains Martin Boer, product manager Angiography (Radiology, Cardiology & Surgery) at Siemens Healthineers.
2D and 3D
"Using the ARTIS Pheno, the patient can be imaged from head to toes using a two-dimensional technique as well as a three-dimensional (volume) technique. Because the ARTIS Pheno is the only system on the market capable of rotating 360 degrees around the patient, the 3D technique can be used to create a cross-sectional volume of the patient. An image is taken every x-number of degrees during rotation. All these images are converted to a 3D volume by an integrated 3D computer at lightning speed. These 3D images provide a better anatomical understanding for the doctors and can also be used as 3D maps during procedures."
The system can be used for various examinations and treatments. Boer: "This usually involves 2D and 3D examinations of blood vessels, but the system is also used by, for example, neurologists for spinal operations, orthopaedists for operations on complicated fractures, thoracic surgeons for operations on the heart and lungs, oncological surgeons for operations on tumours in the liver and kidneys, and urologists for operations on kidneys. These are just a few examples. In practice, the number of examinations is still expanding."
Up-to-date information during surgery
ARTIS Pheno makes up-to-date information available to doctors during surgery. "During a treatment, the doctor can always receive an update, so that during the treatment it is already known whether the procedure has been successful or whether a correction still needs to be made. For example, if a stent is placed in a narrowed vessel, the doctor can continuously check whether this stent is in the right place and whether all the problems of the narrowing of the blood vessel have been corrected," Boer said.
ARTIS Pheno will be part of a new hybrid operating theatre at ZGT Almelo. This operating theatre is equipped with fixed equipment. "Until recently, mobile X-ray equipment was used for imaging in the operating theatre. These devices are much less sophisticated than 'fixed equipment' and therefore less suitable for high-end procedures. Also, these mobile devices have less power than the fixed systems. This means that the image quality of the mobile systems is a lot lower than that of the fixed angiosystems. The high image quality of the ARTIS Pheno is essential for many of the aforementioned procedures."
Features
Some features of the ARTIS Pheno at a glance:
- The ability to shoot 360 degrees around the patient for better quality 3D volumes thus created.
- Thanks to the system's flexibility, the entire body can be viewed in 2D and 3D.
- Fast recordings allow procedures to be performed faster and safer
- The system is on the floor, which does not interfere with the clean air blown from the ceiling above the operating table in an operating theatre. Procedures can therefore be performed sterile even when the angiographic system is used.
- Besides blood vessel examinations, neurosurgeons, cardiac surgeons, urologists, orthopaedic surgeons, among others, can also perform various procedures with the ARTIS Pheno. The 2D and 3D images from the ARTIS Pheno can give these doctors a better understanding of how to operate on the patient in the safest and best way in many procedures.
Source : www.siemens.com/press
By: Wouter Hoeffnagel
