Robot Technology Applied to Angiographic Procedures for Increased Flexibility

New industrial robot technology designed for angiographic procedures allows the physician to move the C-arm to almost any position around the patient. This makes it easier to visualize internal organs from various sides, when, for example, tumors, or vessel diseases have to be diagnosed.

Angiography (vascular imaging) uses X-ray technology and contrast media for spatial visualization of blood vessels. The new Artis zeego angiography system, developed by Siemens Healthcare (Erlangen, Germany), provides increased flexibility in catheter labs and operating rooms. The University Clinic in Munich (Germany) will be the first hospital worldwide to use the new Siemens angiography system for patient care.

Artis zeego is the latest system of the Artis zee line. This is the new name of the Siemens system family for interventional radiology and cardiology. The systems are available in biplane, ceiling-mounted, floor-mounted, and multi-functional configurations. In cardiology, Artis zee can also be equipped with the magnetic navigation system from Stereotaxis.

The combination of a C-arm with a powerful industrial robot provides the treating physician with almost unlimited freedom of movement. The flat detector of this system rotates around the patient at such high velocity and precision that computed tomography- (CT)-like images are created that acquire more anatomic details than was possible ever before with an angiography system. Thus, diagnostic accuracy is increased, especially during complex interventions such as selective internal radiation therapy, which spares healthy tissue and shrinks tumors. Furthermore, the physician can perform complicated C-arm movements, for example for peripheral acquisitions of the patient with the patient table in a tilted position, which are not possible with conventional C-arm systems.

Artis zeego supports innovative three-dimensional (3D) procedures such as tomograms with syngo DynaCT from Siemens. The new Large Volume syngo DynaCT software enables the physician to visualize large volumes such as the entire abdomen or the liver, for example, during chemoembolization or biopsies. Artis zeego is superior to conventional angiography systems also during neuro interventions because it can provide larger views of the skull, neck, and spine.

Patients and physicians to an increasing extent prefer minimally invasive therapy because typically it can be performed under only local anesthesia and reduce the length of the stay in the hospital or doctor's office as opposed to comparable surgical interventions. This treatment method requires imaging procedures for monitoring the painless advancement of instruments along the natural paths such as blood vessels and passage systems.

The Artis zee family is characterized by enhanced quality of 2D imaging and a full range of new 3D applications, including syngo iPilot. This application allows faster and more precise catheter navigation through 3D roadmapping. The syngo iGuide application can be used to move canula procedures from CT to the catheter lab. Thus, interventions are facilitated for the physician and new capacities are created at the CT scanner, which would otherwise be blocked by lengthy interventions.


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