ACC 2006 Preview

At the 55th annual meeting of the American College of Cardiology this month in Atlanta, look for the latest and greatest in powerful image acquisition for cardiology including 64-slice CT, PET/CT, nuclear cardiology, and MRI. The images are getting more powerful as are the tools such as cardiovascular information systems (CVIS) which pack the benefits of the finest PACS and the ability to integrate with hospital information systems and EMRs for patient data, billing, office management, and more!

Barco (Booth #4874) is introducing Cardiametrix, a new suite of clinical application modules available within its flagship 3D software product, Voxar 3D. Cardiametrix provides radiologists and cardiologists with a powerful set of tools for structural and functional analysis of contrast-enhanced computed tomography angiography (CTA) studies. The new software suite comes as a clinical application module within Voxar 3D and shares that systems integration with PACS, Barco said.

Cerner Corporation (Booth #4575) is demonstrating advancements in healthcare information technology and practice management solutions such as PowerWorks, a full suite of clinical and practice management solutions designed to provide clinical information systems to run a doctor’s office. Cerner hosts the applications for physician practices that use PowerWorks in a safe, secure data center, called Cerner Works.

The Cerner PowerWorks solution suite for physician practices includes PowerWorks EMR — a practice-based electronic record solution for improving patient safety and office efficiency; PowerWorks practice management — a practice management solution that efficiently manages both the front and back office of a physician’s practice; transaction services — a series of solutions for claims and remits; and community connectivity to Cerner’s physician services — allows for connection to Cerner’s “grid” of services, which includes the ability to send and receive data to and from national laboratories, hospitals and other participating entities.

For large enterprises, Cerner will showcase Millennium, CVNet cardiovascular information system, Cerner ProVision imaging, and Multi-Media Foundation archive.

Camtronics Medical Systems (Booth #2145) — now part of Emageon — is debuting HeartSuite, its new, integrated, enterprise cardiology offering. HeartSuite represents a new suite of tools including a cardiology information system, multi-modality image visualization, archive and content management, hemodynamic monitoring system, and 3D visualization for CT and MR. One of the featured new HeartSuite product offerings is HeartSuite Hemodynamics.

Clinical analysis workstations provider Digisonics (Booth #4237) is showcasing its WebView, a web-based application for viewing patient reports and images for secure access to vital information from virtually anywhere at anytime. Another of the company’s products called DigiServ will be on display, which integrates multi-site facilities by automating data transfers, reconciling patient records and backing-up mission critical data.

 

GE Healthcare (Booth #2247, 2557) is showing the new Innova 2100IQ cardiovascular imaging system designed to enhance clinicians’ ability to diagnose and treat heart disease and enable more precise placement of interventional devices such as stents, balloons and filters, the company said.

A new set of features on the Mac-Lab IT platform also is on display at the show. This software enhancement offers an interface to the Innova, allowing a wide range of hemodynamic functions to be controlled from the Innova Central system control.

GE also is highlighting its Discovery VCT, a 64–slice PET/CT system for cardiac imaging applications.

The small footprint Ventri is the company’s most advanced nuclear cardiology imaging system, which also includes future upgradeability to the most advanced attenuation correction system.

For MRI, the company is showcasing its high definition magnetic resonance (HDMR) system. HDMR provides physicians with high image clarity of patients who are difficult to image due to movement, as well as perform highly targeted studies of diabetic patients with lower blood flow to the lower legs.

Additionally, new features of the company’s Vivid 7 Dimension, real-time 4D, multi-dimensional cardiovascular ultrasound system are on display.

Medis Medical Imaging Systems (Booth #4022) is presenting the latest versions of its cath lab quantification software solution, QAngio XA, with image management and display systems.

QAngio XA offers functionality for the analysis of the left ventricle, of straight, ostial and bifurcated segments, subsegments, and straight vessel segments treated with drug eluting stents or vascular brachytherapy.

Medis also is presenting the latest versions of:

• QIvus 1.0 Clinical Edition combines fast automatic contour detection over the entire pull-back run with high-impact editing settings;
• QMass MR 6.1.6 enables the analysis of global and regional cardiac function, stress function studies, time-intensity studies and delayed signal intensity studies;
• QFlow 4.1.6 offers quantification of flow in velocity-encoded MR studies; and
• QMass CT 6.1.6 that offers quantification for cardiac CT studies.

NovaRad (Booth #4815) is highlighting its NovaPACS Cardio Viewer that is available as a standalone module or can be added to an existing NovaRad Enterprise workstation.

The NovaPACS Cardio Viewer offers single sign-on access to images on the PACS or over a website. Cardiovascular tools offered in the module include: Image calibration based on catheter size that adjusts accuracy of image for optimal measurement; cine tools; digital subtraction that shows contrast-filled vessels without any interfering background; ejection fraction that calculates the amount of blood in the left ventricle after it discharges; and image-sharpening algorithm that enhances edges.

OptiMed Technologies (Booth #2532) is showing its comprehensive solution for the Private Office. OptiMed’s solution comprises all of the cardiac modalities including imaging, connectivity to the EMR, and reports generation in the form of a replacement for transcription. OptiMed’s solution is intended for the small (single office) as well as larger and multi office practices.  Solutions are also available for connecting the private office to the associated hospitals, the company said.

Problem Solving Concepts Inc. (ProSolv) (Booth # 4821) will demonstrate its CardioVascular software at ACC. The company will also highlight its participated in the 2005 IHE Connectathon and take part in the IHE Interoperability Showcase at the conference.

Siemens Medical Solutions (Booth #3431) is demonstrating the AXIOM Artis, a fully digital cardiac imaging system equipped with innovative flat-panel detector technology and ceiling-mounted C-arms for greater accessibility and 30x40 cm configuration. When combined with AXIOM Sensis hemodynamic and electrophysiological recording system, it provides the high level integrated cath lab.

Also on display is the world’s first dualsource CT, the SOMATOM Definition, which is faster than every heartbeat, eliminating the need for beta blockers and reducing radiation exposure by as much as 50 percent when compared to traditional cardiac CT imaging.

Siemens is highlighting select components of its family of Soarian solutions including Soarian Cardiology with syngo Dynamics, Soarian OR, Soarian Critical Care, and Soarian Disease Management.

Innovations on display include the Tim (total imaging matrix) technology application suite and syngo BEAT, as well as technologies such as the biograph 64 PET/CT, Symbia TruePoint SPECT-CT, and c.cam dedicated cardiac gamma camera.

Terason (Booth #4178) will highlight its newly launched Terason Echo Ultrasound System that is based the company’s proprietary Teratech Architecture, which combines the front-end Fusion processor with PC-based back-end data processing.  The Terason Echo system runs as a Windows application on a standard laptop computer, and its flexible design allows it to be instantly converted from a portable unit to a cart-based system.

Toshiba America Medical Systems (Booth #4119) is showcasing the Infinix-i series family of cardiovascular flat-panel systems. The Infinix DP-i/FD2 cath lab is equipped with two flat-panel detectors (FPD) and is the only single lab that meets ACC guidelines for both cardiac and peripheral work, Toshiba said.

The Aquilion 64 CFX CT scanner also is being showcased. The scanner features a multi-detector design for high-speed, high-resolution imaging with the best low contrast resolution at the lowest dose, acquiring 64 simultaneous slices of 0.5 mm with each 400-millisecond gantry revolution, the company said.

Also on display is the Vantage ZGV MRI scanner that offers new product sequences, enhanced image quality, and features a Mach 8 processor, allowing reconstruction of 1,230 images per second.

Toshiba also is showcasing its Aplio, Xario, and Nemio cardiac ultrasound scanners. The Aplio CV offers a comprehensive package for Doppler measurements and advanced clinical data analysis. The Xario ultrasound system offers an affordable price point and provides a comprehensive optional stress echo package.

Vital Images Inc. (Booth #1059) is featuring enhancements to its dedicated cardiac advanced visualization system, ViTALCardia. Enhancements include tools for segmenting and quantifying the coronary anatomy.

Segmentation feature enhancements include the ability to automatically extract the cardiac anatomy from the chest, enabling physicians to obtain an unobstructed view of the heart. Also new is the ability to probe the entire coronary vessel tree with a single click and view the cross section from multiple orientations.

Witt Biomedical (Booth #2565) is presenting the latest evolution of its image and information management systems. With user-centric navigation, the most recent innovation Equeous is designed for clinical, administrative and IT customers alike. This role-based technology enhances efficiency with navigation shaped around the needs and workflow of each user. Other features include robust DICOM image review and report capabilities.

For the cath lab, Witt is presenting Series V, its physiomonitoring and information management systems. With a robust new SQL database, the soon-to-be-released Series V is designed around the workflow and efficiency needs of cardiologists, cardiovascular directors, clinicians and technologists working in the cath lab, as well as information technology professionals.