Philips launches worlds smallest TEE transducer for cardiac imaging
of newborns
8 June 2009
Royal Philips Electronics (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHI) has introduced its
microTEE, the world’s smallest transesophageal echocardiography (TEE)
transducer for cardiac imaging of neonatal patients.
As part of the latest Vision release for the Philips iE33 intelligent
echocardiography system, the microTEE transducer provides pediatric
cardiologists with a diagnostic tool for imaging the hearts of newborn
patients. Philips microTEE will be showcased this week at the 20th
annual American Society of Echocardiography (ASE) in Washington, DC and
will be available for sale globally this summer.
Due to the larger size of previously available pediatric TEE
transducers, small babies have been impossible to image during critical
cardiac catheterization or surgical procedures. As a result, high-risk
procedures have been done routinely on these tiny patients without
transesophageal echocardiography images available to the
interventionalist or surgeon.
"The microTEE probe is a major advance in our ability to provide
intra-operative cardiac imaging in newborn babies and infants,” said Dr
Girish Shirali, MD, director of pediatric echocardiography at Medical
University of South Carolina (MUSC) Children’s Hospital.
“We are delighted with the image quality, and the miniaturization of
the probe has already proven invaluable to our pediatric
interventionalists in high-risk cath lab procedures. Finally, our
smallest and sickest patients can be imaged intra-operatively just like
everyone else.”
Building on Philips’ existing 2D technology, the microTEE transducer
is roughly one-third the size of previous pediatric TEE transducers,
allowing physicians to ‘turn on the lights’ for the first time for their
tinier patients and providing the images they need during interventional
procedures.
Available globally in summer 2009, the new microTEE is also entering
trials for adult patients requiring TEE imaging but who have difficulty
tolerating standard TEE probes.
“We developed the microTEE in order to help even the smallest
patients,” said Anne LeGrand, senior vice president and general manager,
ultrasound, for Philips Healthcare.
“MicroTEE is the latest in a series of industry ‘firsts’ offered on
our iE33 premium cardiovascular platform. We continue to invest heavily
in the iE33 to provide innovative, validated solutions that fulfill
physicians’ needs and provide enhanced patient care.”
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