CT image of heart captured in five beats
15 November 2005
Dallas, Texas, USA. A clinical study conducted at the at Centre
Cardiologique de Nord (CCN) in Saint-Denis, France has shown that the
LightSpeed VCT, GE's ground-breaking volume computed tomography (CT)
scanner, is capable of capturing images of the human heart in as few as five
beats. The study findings were announced at the annual meeting of the
American Heart Association in Dallas last week.
The clinical case study data, collected by Dr. Jean-Louis Sablayrolles,
head of CT Cardiac Imaging Radiology at Centre Cardiologique de Nord (CCN)
in Saint-Denis, France, shows the LightSpeed VCT's ability to scan the heart
in five heart beats is a critical tool to help physicians improve the
success rate of coronary CT imaging when compared with scan durations of 10
seconds or longer.(1)
As a result, physicians are able to get clear images of a broader patient
population than typical scans done by non-volume CT systems, according to
Sablayrolles.
"This medical achievement in cardiac diagnosis is improving the standard
of care for even those patients who previously were unable to undergo a
non-invasive diagnosis because of poor breath hold," said Sablayrolles. "The
extreme speed and enhanced image quality of the LightSpeed VCT are enabling
doctors at CCN to scan patients in the shortest amount of time possible
while obtaining remarkable cardiac images."
"After five seconds, the heart rate starts to increase due to hypoxia
(breath hold), which is why GE's five beat technology is so vital to helping
to obtain the images to diagnose a very broad patient population," said
Sablayrolles.
Other clinical researchers also say they are experiencing significant
benefits and improving cardiac imaging with the 5-Beat Cardiac application
of the LightSpeed VCT.
"For the first time, using GE's LightSpeed VCT images, physicians are
able to non-invasively diagnose heart disease in at-risk patients, including
patients who we were unable to scan previously due to either rapid heart
beat or because they were unable to hold their breath long enough," said Dr.
Stanley Katz, chief, cardiology, North Shore University Hospital, Manhasset,
NY.
"The GE LightSpeed VCT allows acquisition of cardiac images in a very
short span of time. This extremely fast acquisition reduces the chance for
artifact which would occur from patient movement, beat-to-beat heart rate
variability, and breathing," said Dr. Jeffrey Schussler of Baylor University
Medical Center's Jack and Jane Hamilton Heart and Vascular Hospital in
Dallas.
Further clinical studies
GE also announced today that the company is partnering with more than 20
clinical collaborators to focus on large, in-depth research studies to
further examine the benefits of cardiac CT. These academic institutions
include the Medical College of Wisconsin; North Shore University Hospital;
Cardiology Associates of Alabama; University of California Los Angeles --
Harbor; Baylor University Hospital; and Cornell University Hospital.
Over the course of a year, patients participating in these studies will
have both an angiogram and a LightSpeed VCT scan so that physicians can
compare the images. The results of the study will guide clinicians in the
use of the LightSpeed VCT as a stand-alone diagnostic tool and may also help
in the diagnostic evaluation of emergency patients.
"Catheterizations are an invasive test. With the LightSpeed VCT, we now
offer a less invasive alternative that is changing the way we diagnose
coronary artery disease," said Dr. David Marks, associate professor of
medicine at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee.
Additionally, a controlled clinical study underway at Children's Hospital
and Health System in San Diego to assess the clinical performance of the
LightSpeed VCT for infants with heart defects. The study will compare the
accuracy of the LightSpeed VCT with the more invasive cardiac
catheterization techniques on children born with congenital defects of the
heart and major vessels.
"Having access to GE's LightSpeed VCT will revolutionize the way we scan
and diagnose our pediatric patients," said Meg Norton, chief operating
officer of Children's Hospital and Health Center. "This cutting edge
technology is a great benefit to sick children and their families who are in
need of a quick, fast, accurate and, most important, less invasive
diagnostic assessment."
About the LightSpeed VCT
The LightSpeed VCT is able to noninvasively capture the image of any
organ in one second, perform a whole body trauma scan in fewer than 10
seconds, and capture images of the heart and coronary arteries in as few as
five heartbeats -- something no other CT system can offer. In a single
rotation, the system creates 64 credit-card-thin images, totaling 40
millimeters of anatomical coverage. These images are combined to form a
three-dimensional view of the patient's anatomy for the physician to
analyze.
According to Laura King, global vice president of the Interventional,
Cardiology and Surgery business at GE Healthcare, the LightSpeed VCT's
5-Beat Cardiac application was specifically designed to provide more
coverage and fewer rotations for better resolution, coverage, speed and
power.
"GE listened to luminary cardiologists and customers who told us that
imaging the heart in five or fewer beats was an urgent clinical need," said
King. "The LightSpeed VCT is the only technology capable of 5-Beat Cardiac,
and GE is the only company to build our technology for physicians, based on
their clinical needs, from the ground up."
The LightSpeed VCT has the capability to attain 43-millisecond temporal
resolution, which means physicians can effectively freeze the motion of the
heart in a scan and secure extremely high-quality images of coronary
arteries at submillimeter. This capability can make diagnostic evaluation of
arterial stenosis faster and less invasive than catheter angiography.
GE Healthcare has identified opportunities for new and improved
diagnostic cardiac applications for the LightSpeed VCT, based on its
coverage, speed and resolution capabilities:
- 5-Beat Cardiac — A comprehensive view of the heart and coronary
arteries with submillimeter resolution in five heart beats. This
coverage helps reduce beat-to-beat variability, resulting in more
robust, repeatable procedures, as well as greater vessel visualization
and shorter breath holds for sick patients.
- Triple RuleOut(TM) — The ability to help clinicians rule out (or in)
the three most life-threatening critical conditions in chest pain in one
single scan: aortic dissection, pulmonary embolism and coronary artery
disease.
(1) JL Sablayrolles et al. Wide Coverage by Volume CT:
Benefits for Cardiac Imaging. Proceedings of SPIE, Physics of Medical
Imaging 2005, vol. 5745-39.
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