Philips has CE marked its cardiac troponin I (cTnI) blood test on the Minicare I-20 handheld device. Minicare cTnI delivers its lab comparable test results in less than 10 minutes near the patient, reducing the time for the physician to decide on treatment. Only a single droplet of blood needs to be taken from the patient. The result is delivered while the patient is being assessed and a medical history taken, reducing the time for the physician to decide on treatment. Current guidelines for the diagnosis of myocardial infarction require blood test results of the biomarker cardiac troponin for the 90% of patients who present at the emergency department (ED) with chest pain but are not diagnosed by an ECG. For high-risk cardiac patients (such as those with Acute Coronary Syndrome), fast triage and rapid initiation of treatment are critical in order to improve patient outcomes and to save lives. Only 10% of chest pain patients can be diagnosed by an electrocardiogram (ECG), the rest need to rely on additional cardiac marker testing for the diagnosis of myocardial infarction. Physicians often have to wait up to six hours before it can be decided if they can safely discharge the patients or if they need to admit them into hospital for further tests. It is essential to diagnose myocardial infarction as soon as possible. The use of Minicare cTnI supports a reduction of the diagnostic protocol by up to three hours, allowing care providers to reduce time to treatment and reduce time to discharge of patients, thereby helping to decrease crowding in the emergency department and leading to better use of hospital resources. The Minicare I-20 was tested in real life acute care settings within the European project Lab2Go, a consortium of European hospitals. The study showed the potential of the Philips Minicare cTnI to accurately measure cTnI values, near the patient in the emergency department, with a turn-around-time of less than 10 minutes. Minicare I-20 is simple and easy to use by non-laboratory staff. The intuitive interface and incorporated fail-safes guide the user through the process steps. A droplet of blood from a finger prick or venous whole blood tube can be applied directly on the cartridge. Connectivity allows for direct transfer of the data to the laboratory or hospital information systems to update the patient files. The robustness and accuracy that is needed for confident decision making is provided by integrated calibration and fail-safe guarantees. The clinical and analytical performance of Philips Minicare cTnI was validated during multicentre clinical studies. The Minicare cTnI point of care assay showed excellent clinical performance for the diagnosis of myocardial infarction comparable to central laboratory assays. Minicare cTnI can be used as an aid in the diagnosis of an acute myocardial infarction (AMI) in a diagnostic protocol, including a cTn test, when the patient presents at the emergency department; and 2-4 hours later (0/3h diagnostic protocol) in appropriate patients. This follows the 2015 European Society of Cardiology (ESC) guidelines for the management of NSTE-ACS patients.
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With the help of version 2.0 software for the Perseus A500 anesthesia machine, the anesthetist can automatically recruit insufficiently ventilated lung areas during surgery. The software also provides a comprehensive ventilation monitoring function which monitors the compliance of the sensitive lung in relation to the PEEP (positive end-expiratory pressure) during a recruitment manoeuvre. As a result, the affected lung area can be made accessible again for ventilation in a gentle manner. Atelectasis is a common, but undesirable, occurrence during operations. For some patients, recruitment manoeuvres using the manual ventilation bag, for example, are the means of choice. However, several individual operating steps are sometimes required for this. The new software version 2.0 for the Perseus A500, which is now available, can assist the anesthetist when these steps have to be performed. It supports both one-step recruitment and a multi-step manoeuvre, which usually requires a lot of quick successive manual adjustments at the machine. The anesthesia machine now performs these steps automatically after the anesthetist has set the maximum inspiration pressure and maximum PEEP. Ventilation monitoring is also an integral part of the new software. The anesthetist sees, for example, on the screen how successfully the lung has been recruited. In addition, compliance can be assessed in the course of time, which makes it easier to select the optimum PEEP for the respective patient. The software also takes into account the standard operating procedures of a clinic along the treatment path. The anesthesia machine can, for example, be set in such a way that it indicates the first required recruitment time for the patient undergoing surgery. The machine can also remind the anesthetist about other necessary repetitions.
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The Carestream Touch Prime and Touch Prime XE ultrasound systems are intended for general diagnostic ultrasound imaging within radiology. They incorporate a powerful, integrated GPU processor that provides exceptional image quality and fast response times, whilst also improving usability and productivity. Carestream Touch Prime XE is the company’s flagship ultrasound product, using the groundbreaking Touch Prime Syntek architecture to provide enhanced resolution and increase the number of images to better show moving structures whilst optimizing image output with less noise and fewer artifacts. Carestream Touch Prime XE also has the capacity to achieve frame rates of over 100Hz whilst maintaining image quality and functionality, as DICOM, wireless connectivity, barcode and card readers and elastography can all be selected within the system. Both ultrasound systems have a sealed all-touch control panel that combines the speed and flexibility of a touch screen with the tactile feel of a traditional keyboard. Etched markings for the main keys allow the user to easily find them without looking away from the monitor.
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Ultrasound is a user-intensive modality, which means that simplifying the way a clinician interacts with the system will greatly improve the overall user experience. This was the focus behind Siemens Healthineers’ newly designed family of ultrasound systems, the Acuson S Family, HELX Evolution with Touch Control. Targeting the premium market segment, each of the three systems in the Acuson S Family features innovative technologies that improve system operation and reduce user errors during examinations. Healthcare providers including hospitals, clinics and private practices can upgrade or update their systems at any time providing investment protection for their existing systems. Following intensive user research conducted by Siemens Corporate Research across four key regions and over 170 usability sessions, HELX Evolution with Touch Control was designed for easy usability. A completely reworked user interface simplifies operation with 44percent fewer software keys, 33percent fewer tactile keys and 22percent fewer homebase controls. The control panel features an intuitive touch display that helps eliminate unnecessary workflow steps. The systems feature new imaging optimization technologies to enhance image quality with challenging patients and for abdominal, breast, vascular and musculoskeletal exams. Shear wave elastography technologies are improved to provide more information in a single image for the quantitative or qualitative characterization of tissue. Multi-modality imaging, where real-time ultrasound is superimposed onto 3D CT or MRI volumes, is complemented with newly enhanced workflow tools to make it more relevant and more practical to use in the clinical routine. The Acuson S Family offers solutions to meet a large variety of user needs. The Acuson S3000 ultrasound system is designed for multi-modality imaging in general imaging and interventional radiology. The Acuson S2000 is an all-purpose ultrasound system for general imaging and includes special functions for women’s health. For cardiology and vascular imaging needs, the Acuson S1000 ultrasound system delivers great value.
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