Siemens echocardiography suite captures full-volume heart image in one beat

9 December 2009

Your browser does not support inline frames or is currently configured not to display inline frames. Siemens Healthcare has introduced the 1.2 release of the Acuson SC2000 volume imaging ultrasound system during the 2009 European Society of Cardiology Congress (ESC), (December 9 - 12, 2009 in Barcelona, Spain).

Building upon Siemens architecture and strengthened by Siemens patented technologies, this new release of the Acuson SC2000 system features unique technologies and applications that improve diagnostic confidence and workflow in echocardiography to deliver vastly more diagnostic information than today’s conventional systems.

“Volume echocardiography is powerful, high-precision and fast,” said Dr. Norbert Gaus, CEO of the Business Unit Ultrasound, Siemens Healthcare. “While current approaches to traditional 3D echocardiography require four to seven heart cycles to stitch together a volume of the heart, our true Echo in a Heartbeat technology delivers precise, non-stitched, real-time full-volume imaging in one single heart cycle.”

By producing a full-volume view of the heart in one single beat without stitching or gating, the technique offers comprehensive data to improve diagnostic confidence and accelerate clinical workflow.

The ACUSON SC2000 system delivers superior volume imaging that can be easily integrated into a routine adult echocardiography scan. The non-stitched, real-time full-volume imaging provides wider access to patients and captures true physiologic information including color flow and accurate volume quantification for the left ventricle and right ventricle.

In addition, the system features the Rapid Stress volume stress echo application, with full-volume acquisition in one single heartbeat per stage and auto-extraction of reference planes for comparison to improve the volume stress workflow and making it the only volume stress echo solution for patients with arrhythmia.

This results in faster acquisition time and a comprehensive review of all wall segments in one single capture, leading to potentially improved accuracy and time savings.

New to the ACUSON SC2000 system is the unique IN Focus coherent imaging technology. Without the need to continuously set and select a given location of best focus, IN Focus technology sharpens the full-field image at all times — without sacrificing frame rate. The technology delivers continuous full-field transmit focusing and uses the power of 64 receive beams, maximizing the imaging information rate to better resolve cardiac structure and motion for superior diagnostic imaging.

An innovative approach to workflow enhancement are eSieScan Workflow Protocols. They streamline exam workflows, both on the user level and in the entire lab, bringing both highest reproducibility and quality standards to the volume imaging workflow. eSieScan protocols can be customized and re-ordered based on user or department requirements, dramatically reducing the need for user interaction and the number of keystrokes during the imaging process.