Cardiac and Pediatric Ultrasound Upgrades Expand Clinical Applications

An ultrasound system's new upgrade utilizes three-dimensional (3D) wall motion tracking, so that for the first time physicians will be able to assess live 3D volume images in one cardiac cycle. The ability to accomplish this in one cardiac cycle will eliminate stitching artifacts, and more importantly, allow physicians to obtain high-quality images in patients with arrhythmias and shortness of breath.

Offering new upgrades that will improve the ability to diagnose cardiovascular disease with ultrasound, Toshiba Medical Systems (Tokyo, Japan) presented the company's newest additions to the Aplio Artida ultrasound system at this year's American College of Cardiology (ACC) annual meeting in Orlando, FL, USA, on March 29- 31, 2009. Toshiba also introduced a pediatric package and two new probes, significantly expanding the clinical utility of Artida. Toshiba's two new software upgrades have been designed to improve its proprietary 3D and 2D wall motion tracking.

2D wall motion tracking of the transmural myocardium will enable physicians to more accurately diagnose heart disease by allowing them to separate out parts of the heart for viewing. For example, physicians will be able to look at only the endocardium or epicardium, in addition to providing views of the entire muscle. Separating these areas of the heart is important because different parts of the muscle move at different speeds--this will enhance visualization.

Using Artida's real time, multi-planar reformatting capabilities, physicians can assess global and regional left ventricular (LV) function, including volumetric LV ejection fraction. Arbitrary views of the heart, not available in 2D imaging, are also obtained to help with surgical planning. The 2D/3D wall motion tracking features from Toshiba allow the user to obtain angle-independent, global and regional information about myocardial contraction. It is hoped these features will enable acquisition of additional data that could be of value in echo-guided cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) and in stress echocardiography.

"These upgrades are important because the subendocardial layer is sensitive to the effects of myocardial ischemia, and the ability to selectively assess subendocardial function has potential clinical benefits," stated Dr. John Gorcsan, director of echocardiography, University of Pitts burgh medical Center (UPMC) Cardiovascular Institute (PA, USA).

In addition to the 3D and 2D wall motion tracking upgrades, Toshiba is expanding the clinical applications for ultrasound in pediatric care with new a pediatric package and two new probes. The new pediatric probes will provide higher transducer frequencies for pediatrics, resulting in the highest levels of image quality.

"As the only imaging vendor with the ability to perform 3D wall motion tracking in a single heart beat, we are continuing to enhance the cardiac capabilities of the Aplio Artida and increase the various types of patients that can be imaged with the system," stated Girish Hagan, vice president, marketing, Toshiba. "The addition of the pediatric probes will also expand the clinical applications and utilities of the Aplio Artida system to the ever important pediatric market."

Toshiba Medical Systems Corp., an independent group company of Toshiba Corp. (Tokyo, Japan), is a global leading provider of diagnostic medical imaging systems and medical solutions.

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