by
Lisa Chamoff, Contributing Reporter | April 04, 2022
From the April 2022 issue of HealthCare Business News magazine
“We continue to hear interest and engagement from customers around new areas that they can be using C-arms, particularly because it offers the 3D capability,” Strauch said. “We've had some customers who have purchased it only for the 2D capability because they love some of the other features that [have been] added, but it really supports workflow in that you can use it as a 2D for the two dimensional images you need through the procedure, but then as it is called for early in the surgery or later in the surgery, [it provides] a 3D image that they can use for planning purposes or confirmation purposes, which I think is a tremendous benefit.”
GE also introduced a 31-centimeter CMOS detector for its OEC One C-arm, which can be used for orthopedic and vascular procedures. It’s also been FDA cleared.
“We continue to expand the overall offering to capture more needs [with] greater capabilities to serve different types of procedures, and therefore more patients for our hospitals and our customers,” Strauch said.
Image Diagnostics
Image Diagnostics, known primarily for imaging tables in urology and vascular surgery, has developed radiation shields — the Protego Radiation Protection System and the Compass Flex Mobile Suspension System — that allow for OR imaging without requiring lead shielding for the staff. The products were released in October of last year.
“There are a lot of studies that say that [lead shielding] leads to all kinds of workplace injuries,” said Mark Hansen, vice president of business development at Image Diagnostics. “We provide an apparatus that can allow you to do a cardiac intervention, and everybody in the room can drop their lead and be safer than if they were wearing lead during the procedure.”
The Protego Radiation Protection System consists of a series of shields on the side of the table as well as up and over the patient. It can be set up in a few minutes and can accommodate a wide range of imaging angles for cardiovascular interventional procedures.
A preclinical study shows that the system reduced radiation up to 99%, Hansen said.
“And that 1% is almost not readable on current real-time dosimetry devices,” Hansen said. “So we have a number of extended cardiovascular procedures where real-time dosimetry readings start at zero and remain at zero for the entire case.”
Omega Medical Imaging
Omega Medical Imaging recently introduced Soteria.AI, a floor-mounted cardiology system. It comes with an integrated AI-based technology that automatically defines the region of interest, decreasing radiation dose by up to 84% while retaining image quality.
