Dear Friends A message from Joris van den Hurk, Vice President Cardiology Care Cycles + Read The cardiology care cycle J. van den Hurk and A. Mukherjee The cardiology care cycle approach represents a paradigm shift in the provision of healthcare for patients at risk of cardiac disease. It also helps industry identify how the integration of products and services can create synergies that help improve patient care and reduce costs. + Read article Feasibility evaluation of dual axis rotational angiography (XperSwing) in the diagnosis of coronary artery disease T. Horisaki, O. Katoh, S. Imai, T. Inada, T. Suzuki, K. Iinuma, H. Sugiura, N. Bakker and N. Melman. In most patients, dual axis rotational angiography (XperSwing) provides adequate information for the diagnosis of coronary artery disease, and can reduce X-ray dose and contrast agent usage. + Read article StentBoost: a useful clinical tool J.A. Garcia, N.H. Bakker, R. de Paus and J.D. Carroll StentBoost is an angiographic technique that allows better visualization of deployed stents in coronary arteries by enhancing the image quality of the stent in non-contrast projection images. The enhanced image is then overlaid on the contrast image. + Read article Optimization of pulsed fluoroscopy in pediatric radiology using voiding cystourethrography as an example R. Schumacher and H. Allmendinger In pediatric voiding cystourethrograms, digital grid-controlled pulsed fluoroscopy provided sharper images and an 80% reduction in radiation dose, when compared with continuous fluoroscopy. + Read article Brilliance iCT: initial experiences with the new generation of cardiovascular computed tomography systems D. Rosenblum, K. Kutoloski, P.J. Diaz, S. Tamarkin, D. Friedman and B. Milner Multi-detector computed tomography is becoming the non-invasive modality of choice for cardiovascular imaging. The authors present their initial experiences with the Brilliance iCT scanner. + Read article Imaging the motion of the heart and blood with echocardiography: advanced technology provides deeper insights into physiology and diastolic function S.J. Kovács, L. Shmuylovich and W. Zhang Innovation in echocardiographic imaging has greatly increased the understanding of how the heart fills, and has improved diagnosis and treatment of diastolic dysfunction. + Read article The road to mitral valve repair with live 3D transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) R.M. Lang, I.S. Salgo, A.C. Anyanwu and D.H. Adams Mitral valve repair, rather than replacement, can improve patient outcome. New detailed views with the Philips Live 3D X7-2t TEE ultrasound transducer help definitive repair management. + Read article Structural heart disease interventions: rapid clinical growth and challenges in image guidance J.D. Carroll, S.J. Chen, M.S. Kim, A.R. Hansgen, A. Neubauer and O. Wink This article describes the cooperation between the University of Colorado and Philips in investigating the imaging requirements of SHD interventions, and developing appropriate solutions. + Read article Cardiac resynchronization therapy: the role of equilibrium radionuclide angiography E.H. Botvinick, N. Badhwar and J.W. O’Connell New imaging parameters, particularly those generated with equilibrium radionuclide angiography, can improve biventricular pacemaker placement for cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT). + Read article
Integration of CT and fluoroscopy images in the ablative treatment of atrial fibrillation C. Kriatselis, M. Tang, M. Roser, J-H. Gerds-Li and E. Fleck RF ablation is an effective treatment for atrial fibrillation. The EP Navigator fuses 3D CT and fluoroscopy images for accurate navigation. + Read article 64 High-resolution MR perfusion imaging with k-t BLAST and k-t SENSE S. Kozerke and S. Plein The latest advances in cardiac MRI technology permit dynamic contrast-enhanced imaging of ischemia at unparalleled spatiotemporal resolutions. Methods such as k-t BLAST and k-t SENSE exploit information redundancy in dynamic images of the heart, enabling encoding of voxel sizes down to 1 mm. + Read article Simplifying cardiac MR analysis M. Breeuwer, G. Hautvast, S. Higgins and E. Nagel Cardiac MR (CMR) analysis is ready for routine application, but its use is hampered by its relative complexity of the procedure. The procedure can be simplified, and the amount of training reduced, by introducing dedicated task guidance and far-reaching automation. + Read article Summaries + Read article Technology News + Read article
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