Interventional guidance is getting a boost at RSNA 2008 through a novel ultrasound system developed by GE Healthcare and a partnership between Philips Ultrasound and interventional workstation developer Traxtal.
Interventional guidance is getting a boost at RSNA 2008 through a novel ultrasound system developed by GE Healthcare and a partnership between Philips Ultrasound and interventional workstation developer Traxtal.
GE's latest flagship ultrasound scanner, Logiq E9, fuses previously acquired CT and MR data sets with real-time ultrasound data. Data fusion is just one aspect of the premium-tier scanner, which this week made its first appearance on the RSNA 2008 exhibit floor. This capability, however, is unlike any other, according to Terri Bresenham, vice president of GE's diagnostic ultrasound and IT clinical systems. Available on the E9 console, Volume Navigation continuously updates the volumetric model of a patient with real-time ultrasound data to offer moment-to-moment guidance for interventionalists. A GPS-like function visually tracks the surgical instrument in real-time in context provided by CT or MR. The transducer is registered in 3D space using a magnetic field that serves as a virtual stereotactic frame.
Although a first-timer to the RSNA meeting, Logiq E9 was commercially released in late summer. This is the second time to the RSNA meeting for the Philips/Traxtal combination. At RSNA 2007, Philips' ultrasound scanner iU22 fed data to Traxtal's interventional navigation system, which fuses real-time ultrasound into MR or CT images.
This year, Philips and Traxtal tightened the digital link between the free-standing PercuNav workstation and the iU22 that allows for better image quality and communications. Keeping data fusion as a separate capability, built only into the workstation, provides the operator some flexibility until the ultrasound-based application takes hold, according to Jim Brown, director of clinical and technical marketing for the ultrasound business unit at Philips Healthcare. Similarly, the workstation can be used with or without ultrasound, just as the iU22 is purchased for use as a stand-alone ultrasound scanner.
The combination of two devices allows tip guidance using CT and MR volumes with real-time feedback from the overlay of ultrasound images. Sensors, working in concert with a device that generates a magnetic field, provide the data needed to track the intervention. The direct digital link between the workstation and ultrasound scanner enhances image quality through improved communications between the two products, according to Brown.
The Reading Room: Artificial Intelligence: What RSNA 2020 Offered, and What 2021 Could Bring
December 5th 2020Nina Kottler, M.D., chief medical officer of AI at Radiology Partners, discusses, during RSNA 2020, what new developments the annual meeting provided about these technologies, sessions to access, and what to expect in the coming year.
Study Finds Transvaginal Ultrasound Unreliable for Detecting Endometrial Cancer in Black Patients
July 3rd 2024Utilizing a threshold of less than 5 mm of ultrasound-measured endometrial thickness, the authors of a new study noted an 11.4 percent false-negative probability for endometrial cancer in Black patients.
RSNA 2020: Addressing Healthcare Disparities and Access to Care
December 4th 2020Rich Heller, M.D., with Radiology Partners, and Lucy Spalluto, M.D., with Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, discuss the highlights of their RSNA 2020 session on health disparities, focusing on the underlying factors and challenges radiologists face to providing greater access to care.
New Study Shows Non-Radiologists Interpreting 28 Percent of Imaging for Medicare Patients
June 28th 2024While radiologists interpreted approximately 99 percent of all non-cardiac CT, MRI and nuclear medicine studies in hospital and emergency department settings for Medicare beneficiaries, new research shows significantly less radiologist review of cardiac imaging and office-based imaging.
FDA Clears Pocket-Sized ECG System and AI Technology for Detection of Cardiac Conditions
June 27th 2024Using a reduced leadset and deep neural network algorithms trained on more than 175 million electrocardiograms, the KAI 12L technology reportedly detects up to 35 cardiac determinations, including acute myocardial infarction.