Medica_Montag

MONDAY @ MEDICA2 EH @ MEDICA No 1 2015 Dimensions fit individual places a Flexib US sy » Esaote specialises in designing and manufacturing diagnostic ultrasound systems and probes, shaping solu- tions to answer demanding clinical needs in any application, as the firm outlines, from abdomen to vascu- lar, passing through musculoskeletal, internal medicine, cardiology, emer- gency and physiotherapy. ‘Esaote’s state-of-the-art technolo- gies provide top image quality for confident diagnosis, from difficult- to-scan patients up to fully detailed superficial image resolution,’ the firm points out. ‘Our offer of transduc- ers ranges from traditional phased, linear, convex, and endocavity to dedicated solutions for surgery and intervention. ‘Esaote’s probe family is now enhanced by the brand new High Frequency Hockey Stick probe IH 6-18 and the biopsy dedicated con- vex transducer SI2C41. ‘Customisable buttons on the probe body enhance comfort and increase possibilities.’ Advanced haemodynamic evalu- ation tools, such as XFlow and HD CFM, tissue stiffness evaluation with ElaXto and easy to perform real-time Fusion Imaging with the system’s Virtual Navigator are examples of advanced technologies tailored to customer requests, the manufactur- er adds. ‘Virtual biopsy and needle enhancement technology are valu- able tools to facilitate needle inser- tions from simple biopsies up to percutaneous treatments.’ Ergonomics and innovative design are also leading influences on the final products. ‘Workflow optimisation and auto- mation tools are designed in col- laborations with important clinical and technical reference centres and Universities. Interviews and long scanning sessions with lots of ultra- sound users from radiographers to radiologists and physicians, from sur- geons to paramedics, have helped us to have a clear view of the different Real-time virtual ultrasound turns fusion imaging on its side with a dynamic synchronisation of ultrasound with MRI Using the Arietta V70 from Hitachi, a French diagnostic imaging team is rewriting the book on obstetrics and gynaecology. Entitled the ‘Atlas d’échographie de fusion en gyné- cologie obstétrique’, the new edition by Jean-Marc Levaillant MD, and col- leagues from the diagnostic imaging centres at the Bicêtre and Créteil hos- pitals in Paris, will be published before the end of 2015. Driving the excitement behind the new atlas are unique double views of anatomy acquired using the Real- Time Virtual Sonography (RVS) fea- ture on the Hitachi Aloka Arietta V70 ultrasound system, according to Laurence Gitz MD at the Prenatal Diagnostic Centre at Bicêtre. ‘Here we have a synchronisation of images rather than superimposing one image on top of the other, as with the usual fusion imaging. This means that we have a dynamic comparison with side- by-side viewing, which allows us to focus more clearly on a zone of inter- est and scrutinise better the anomaly,’ Gitz explained during a presentation at the French Radiology Congress. The new atlas will include what she described enthusiastically as side-by- side views of a foetal cranium where the Hitachi echo images confirm a suspicion raised on the MRI images. During the workshop, Naïma Chaibi MD noted that there could be uncertainties and disagreements about a diagnosis among clinicians when the MRI and ultrasound images are viewed separately. ‘In such cases where the condition is not clear on one modality, there is an advantage to bringing them together, in having both examinations simultaneously dis- played,’ she said. Chaibi currently leads a project to create a scoring method that will relate visualisations acquired by the Arietta V70 using RVS with an evalu- ation of risks for a patient. Originally developed for interventional radiology applications, Hitachi Aloka combined this new approach to fusion imaging with the company’s deep experience in OB/GYN examinations to develop the new application for the Arietta V70. After a scanner sequence is load- ed onto the platform, a clinician clips a mini-sensor to the ultrasound probe that is tracked in a magnetic field projected from an antenna. According to Senior Product Manager Fréderic Philippe, the registration of the patient’s anatomy with the scanned data set is so robust that it can main- tain the accuracy of a synchronised ultrasound exam even where there has been a shift of organs, or a foetus has moved. The lightweight and ergonomic design of the Arietta platform has been accelerated for the top-of-the- line V70 with the addition of high performance processing power that Philippe said is more than three-times more powerful than earlier versions. The clinical advances Hitachi Aloka brings are the result of maintaining a horizontal, global approach to devel- opment that crosses ultrasound spe- cialties, he added. ‘We bring to OB/ GYN advanced tools and technologies originally developed in other clinical specialties. For example, the speckle tracking developed for cardiology has been applied to obstetrics for track- ing a foetal heart. In bringing fusion developed for the liver and kidneys from radiology applications, we were able to show for the first time the foetal brain and have since shown the clinical relevance of echo fusion exams for diagnosing placenta abnor- malities. Studies are now exploring cervical and ovarian cancers,’ he said. ‘We have stayed focused on a fundamentally different approach ori- ented to improving the clinical value of our technology. Sometimes ultra- sound is used for clever marketing techniques, such as showing a snap- shot of the unborn baby’s face. But this does not have a lot of clinical value. Our goal is to precisely moni- tor the development of the foetus or organ and detecting any abnormali- ties as early as possible,’ he said. ‘As a result of this commitment, starting in the first trimester of preg- nancy, a clinician can see a level of information with an image quality that has never been available before. Clinicians have told us they are now able to see specific conditions of a foetus several weeks earlier in its development by using our probes and imaging platforms.’ New atlas will redefine OB/GYN imaging Foetal brain sagittal view illustrated via Hitachi Aloka’s Fusion Imaging (RVS) A suspicion of placenta accreta – detected with Hitachi Aloka’s high-definition blood flow imaging (eFLOW) and illustrated with Fusion Imaging (RVS) Editor-in-Chief: Brenda Marsh Art Director: Olaf Skrober Managing Editor: Sylvia Schulz Editorial team: Sascha Keutel, Marcel Rasch Senior Writer: John Brosky Executive Director: Daniela Zimmermann Founded by Heinz-Jürgen Witzke Correspondents Austria: Michael Kraßnitzer, Christian Pruszinsky. China: Nat Whitney France: Annick Chapoy, Jane MacDougall.Germany: Anja Behringer, Annette Bus, Walter Depner, Bettina Döbereiner, Matthias Simon, Axel Viola, Cornelia Wels-Maug, Holger Zorn. Great Britain: Brenda Marsh, Mark Nicholls. Malta: Moira Mizzi. Poland: Pjotr Szoblik. Russia: Olga Ostrovskaya, Alla Astachova. Spain: Mélisande Rouger, Eduardo de la Sota. Switzerland: Dr. André Weissen. USA: Cynthia E. Keen, i.t. Communications, Nat Whitney. Subscriptions Janka Hoppe, European Hospital, Theodor-Althoff-Str. 45, 45133 Essen, Germany EH @ MEDICA No 12015

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