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Enhanced catheter image guidance for EP ablation procedures

During the course of EP ablation procedures, a large number of carefully identified ablation points must be created to successfully treat the patient.  Navigating catheters to precise locations within the heart to accomplish this is a challenging task.

 

 

Dr. Gerhard Hindricks, Professor of Internal Medicine & Cardiology and Director of the Department of Electrophysiology at the University of Leipzig, Germany has been working in the field of electrophysiology (EP) for more than 20 years.  He understands the critical nature of precise catheter navigation during complex ablation procedures.

 

Philips’ EP navigator facilitates ablations by showing 3D heart contours and catheters together in real-time.  It takes a segmented 3D CT or rotational angiography image and combines that with live fluoroscopic images.  Now electrophysiologists can instantly confirm catheter position with respect to 3D cardiac anatomy and ablation targets can be reached more accurately.

 

Dr Michael Orlov, Assistant Professor of Medicine at Caritas St. Elizabeth Medical Center in Boston Massachusetts explains,“This procedure depends critically on the accuracy of the anatomical information at hand.  Using Philips EP navigator is a big improvement. It adds information we could not get previously.”

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LiveView provides a registered image showing the position of any catheter with respect to detailed 3D cardiac anatomy in real time. + Enlarge	3D segmentation of different cardiac structures is automatically created. + Enlarge

 

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Discovering a new clarity
EP navigator is designed to help electrophysiologists optimize workflow and maximize procedural efficiency.  This is in response to the continuing increase in complex ablation procedures worldwide.  In fact Dr. Hindricks projects an increase at his institution alone of up to 100% per year.

 

EP navigator works seamlessly with the Philips Allura Xper x-ray angio systems.  The concept is simple – allow 3D anatomy to share a single image with live fluoro and make catheter guidance more intuitive.  The steps are sensible:

1. Load a previously acquired multi-slice cardiac CT scan into the EP navigator workstation
2. Select the dataset for 3D reconstruction – 3D segmentation of cardiac structures is created automatically
3. Register the 3D volumes over the selected live fluoroscopic views
4. The registered images automatically move together as the Allura’s c-arm is rotated

 

Dr. Orlov explains, “Now that we have this registered image with EP navigator, we have much more confidence that we are ablating in the proper location.”

 

Destined to be a winner
At a time when there is an urgency to clear the clutter in the EP suite and reduce procedure time, EP navigator has been introduced as a major step toward that goal.

 

The job of sorting through the many solutions available to EP practitioners falls to department directors like Dr. Hindricks.  It is up to him to decide what works and what doesn’t.  “There have been so many new technologies in the field that have ended up as toys not tools,” he laments. “For our institution, I must judge each to determine which has the potential to become a tool.  And EP navigator certainly has that potential.”

 

Learn more

 

+ EP navigator