Ultrasound application for treatment of structural heart disease
TrueFusion, an application on the new Release 5.0 of the ACUSON SC2000 cardiovascular ultrasound system, integrates ultrasound and angiography images. These integrated images can be used to guide cardiac teams when administering treatment for structural heart disease. Treatment options for structural heart disease are evolving rapidly. Increasingly, these minimally invasive procedures involve multimodality imaging and multidisciplinary clinical teams. To reliably diagnose structural heart disease and perform these complex interventions, clinical teams need detailed, real-time imaging information – specifically, real-time soft tissue and blood flow information from echocardiography as well as 2D imaging information from fluoroscopy – to be visible in one view for common orientation. Addressing the need for fused images, the new TrueFusion application sends anatomical and functional markers as well as valve models from the ACUSON SC2000’s True Volume transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) transducer to an Artis with PURE angiography system, overlaying ultrasound information with live fluoroscopy images to navigate structural heart procedures. By directly and seamlessly integrating co-registration of Artis fluoro and ACUSON SC2000 echo into the workflow via machine learning-based probe detection and automated registration updates, TrueFusion enables clinical teams to identify soft tissue-based structures that are provided directly from the integrated ultrasound system. Not only can echocardiographers and interventionists better communicate and achieve more intuitive anatomical orientation during challenging procedures, but clinical teams potentially can reduce contrast usage and procedure time as well as patient and clinician X-ray exposure. For the high innovation pace of novel procedures and devices in structural heart disease, data and image integration is now available for clinical decision support and real-time therapy guidance.
