From the April 2013 issue of HealthCare Business News magazine

For customers who don’t have the resources to invest in a hybrid OR just yet, Patricia van Kemenade, the marketing segment director of mobile C-arms for Philips Healthcare, says some start with a mobile C-arm and work their way up.

“We can work with the customer along his lifetime so if he can increase his workload, we can grow with him in the systems he needs,” she says.


Dose, of course
Minimally invasive surgery is associated with higher dose, a concern for patients and especially surgeons, who are exposed to it daily. While dose still isn’t as much of a worry in C-arms as it is for other modalities, Daher says improved dose efficiency is one factor that leads facilities to replace legacy interventional X-ray systems.

“We’re noticing an industry trend probably started some years back by the higher focus that CT brought to overall dose,” says Berthe of Toshiba. “It’s now come into the interventional suite, more and more of our customers are asking about dose. We have a lot of pediatric interventional systems, so it comes up especially for those patients.”

Toshiba introduced an application called Spot Fluoroscopy at RSNA 2012 that allows clinicians to observe one area at a time under a “spot light” while still viewing the surrounding area using a technique called Last Image Hold.

Dose is especially a concern for surgeons who are not accustomed to imaging during surgery, van Kemenade of Philips notes. The company offers training programs and online modules to help customers understand their exposure.

Integrating images from different modalities can also help reduce dose.

“We use a lot of diagnostic pre-acquired images to limit the amount of exposures you need to make, because then you can use pre-MR and pre-CT images to guide yourself through the body,” says Louise Verheij van Wijk, the vice president of marketing interventional X-Ray for Philips Healthcare.

C-arms that play well with others
Besides performing in supporting roles with star surgeons, C-arms can now also work effectively as part of an ensemble cast of modalities and tools.

At RSNA 2012, GE introduced the OEC Elite + Venue 40, a mobile C-arm integrated with a tablet ultrasound.

“Vascular access could be done with the ultrasound, it might be easier to do it that way, there might be some clinical benefit, then you continue on with the case, using the X-ray system,” says GE’s Snyder. “That’s an example where we’re able to integrate technologies in one machine which can save space, and perhaps save cost.”

Ziehm has also introduced integrated technologies to its line of mobile C-arms. The company has an arrangement with Covidien for an injector interface for vascular procedures, and it has several integrated navigation solutions. The company also recently signed an agreement with a Swedish manufacturer of operating tables for exclusive integration with its product.

April 2013 Magazine

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