Cardiac care at Royal Brompton boosted by Siemens cardiac CT system
19 August 2005
To fulfil the demand for more complex cardiac care the Royal Brompton
Hospital in London has commissioned the first Siemens Biplane Cardiac CT
System with flat plate detectors in England. The AXIOM Artis dBC, was
funded through the NOF Cardiac Initiative in recognition of the complexity
of the work being undertaken by the department.
Referral patterns for cardiac angiography for major healthcare centres
are changing. For the Royal Brompton Hospital, it is not just the impact of
the imaging techniques such as MRI and CT which are bringing this about.
Referrals have become increasingly complex as more general hospitals are
conducting basic angioplasty procedures.
Royal Brompton Hospital's Superintendent Radiographer for Cardiology,
Karen Shevlin, said "we have seen the cases referred to the Royal Brompton
Hospital become proportionally more complex both for diagnostics and for
angioplasty."
As with all cardiac centres the combination of dose reduction features
plus image quality are key factors in the choice of equipment, whilst
additional benefits looked for at the Royal Brompton Hospital were
simplified ease of use and better Anaesthetists access.
This has all been achieved with the Siemens Artis dBC System and in
addition the visual impact of the overall space within the room provides a
better working environment. As the lab will be used for children, as well as
for adult angioplasty and diagnosis, Dr Alan McGee, a Paediatric Radiologist
and member of the adjudication committee, commented "dealing with children
with complex congenital abnormalities we had to be sure the system chosen
would enable quicker diagnosis through higher image quality but at the
lowest dose."

Ms Shevlin continued, "Being a tertiary referral centre for primary
angioplasty we need the highest performance from our cardiac imaging systems
and an equivalent level of service, which Siemens and its Uptime Support
Centre can deliver. We have seen a quick learning curve for staff where the
training has been simplified due to familiarisation with the Syngo operating
platform."
Highly integrated into the new Artis dBC bi-plane with Sensis and the
existing Siemens Artis dFC single plane, the Medcon PACS system for
Cardiology provides all diagnostic, haemodynamic data and spatial
measurements through its web-based architecture, as well as echo images and
doctors reports.
The PACS set up in the department, linking all the Labs, is designed to
improve workflow across the site, as is the objective of the new Siemens
system. Having comprehensive diagnostic data available is also helpful for
the large number of research studies being undertaken in the hospital.
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