“Now we have one C-arm that takes care of all our needs – orthopedic, spinal and vascular,” says Dr. Ron Sing, vascular trauma care surgeon at the F.H. “Sammy” Ross Jr. Center of the Carolinas Medical Center, Charlotte, North Carolina.
The F.H. “Sammy” Ross Jr. Center is a busy Level One trauma center serving 14 surrounding counties in the state of North Carolina. Critical to its success is the ability to treat patients quickly and effectively, often under difficult circumstances.
Philips technology helps.
Lots of imaging demands
In a trauma situation, staff must consider:
- Shortening time to treatment
- Coordinating specialized skills
- Maximizing technology resources
- Imaging when and where necessary
- Scanning virtually all patient types and sizes
- Acquiring top quality images at a low X-ray dose
The versatility and power of the Philips BV Pulsera mobile surgery system supports these goals.
One system, many applications
“We’ve been able to go to a single platform to improve our efficiency,” suggests Dr. Sing. “It’s not like I have to ask for the ‘vascular’ C-arm. One system accomplishes it all.”
Dr. Sing explains, “When we have a complex orthopedic injury such as a femur fracture with vascular injury, I can do an angiogram, arteriogram, or venogram, whatever I choose and then without having to move the machine, orthopedics can use it to place a rod, nail or do some external fixation.
We’ve got two separate teams working with one piece of equipment. Shortening time to treatment can enhance patient care.”
Overview Vena Cava Inferior (click to enlarge) | | 
Insertion of the Vena Cava Filter (click to enlarge) |
Ideal for acute trauma settings
The mobile BV Pulsera’s mobility and flexibility saves time.
- The ultra compact mobile C-arm stand features rear-wheel steering for easy maneuverability and positioning.
- An optimally designed Mobile View Station, with touch screen monitor, can be moved around the tight confines of a crowded OR, enabling the user to get the optimal viewing position need.
- The compact counterbalanced C-arm rotates a full 1350 to provide all required projections.
- Imaging options include Low Dose Fluoroscopy, High Definition Fluoroscopy, Real Pulsed Fluoroscopy and Radiography.
- 1K2 imaging throughout the full digital imaging chain delivers high quality images time after time.
Dr. Sing turns to the BV Pulsera’s Real Pulse Fluoroscopy mode to speed up his work. “If I’m doing an arteriogram and need to do the entire extremity, instead of having to do the femur, the knee and the leg separately, I can do one injection and run the C-arm down as the contrast is moving down the leg. I don’t have to do multiple studies and the patient is subjected to less contrast.”
Convenient imaging in the ICU
“As we transition over to the ICU,” says Dr. Sing, “again we use the same equipment. This means I don’t lose any image quality. In fact, we do our fluoroscopy at the patient’s bedside.”
A common procedure performed by Dr. Sing in the ICU is insertion of vena cava filters to prevent blood clots from traveling to the lungs. This is a procedure classically performed in either the OR or radiology department. But with an unstable patient, Dr. Sing can bring the procedure bedside – mitigating the challenges of transport to the OR.
And with the BV Pulsera’s superb subtraction imaging, Dr. Sing and his team have used Carbon dioxide (CO2) gas as an alternative to iodinated contrast media, to look at the vena cava - reducing risk of contrast nephropathy.
Help more patients
The BV Pulsera delivers the power to see through virtually any size patient. For Dr. Sing, this translates to new opportunities. “We’ve had large patients for example who have a deep venous thrombosis or have had a pulmonary embolism that the radiology department can not image because they exceed the weight limit for the table. So I get a call to use the C-arm at the patient’s bedside. We’ve never failed to image a patient.”
Dr. Sing sums up his feelings this way, “Whether in the OR or ICU, all of my imaging needs are taken care of with the BV Pulsera. Simplicity and portability is what makes it work so well.”
[Published: 2008-03-01]