Royal Philips Healthcare and RealView Imaging Ltd. have completed a clinical study which demonstrated the feasibility of using innovative live 3D holographic visualization and interaction technology to guide minimally-invasive structural heart disease procedures. The pilot study, which involved eight patients at the Schneider Children’s Medical Center in Petah Tikva, used RealView’s visualization technology to display interactive real-time 3D holographic images acquired by Philips’ interventional X-ray and cardiac ultrasound systems.
In addition to viewing the patient’s heart on a 2D screen, doctors in the interventional team were able to view detailed dynamic 3D holographic images of the heart ’floating in free space’ during a minimally-invasive structural heart disease procedure, without using special eyewear. The doctors were also able to manipulate the projected 3D heart structures by literally touching the holographic volumes in front of them. The study demonstrated the potential of the technology to enhance the context and guidance of structural heart repair.
"I see clear indications that 3D medical holography will play an important role in medical imaging in the near future,” said RealView CEO Aviad Kaufman. “With the advancement of live 3D imaging and increasing clinical evidence of its value for a variety of procedures, we are convinced that our holographic technology will further enhance 3D imaging and, most importantly, improve patient care."
Progress in image-guided therapies for heart diseases - from the opening of obstructed coronary arteries to catheter ablation therapy for heart arrhythmias and catheter-based structural heart repairs (for example, heart valve replacements) - have greatly increased the need for live 3D image guidance, to supplement today’s live 2D image guidance. Live X-ray and live 3D cardiac ultrasound imaging are typically used simultaneously to guide minimally invasive structural heart repair procedures, with the ultrasound images providing detailed insights into the heart’s soft tissue anatomy, and the X-ray imaging providing visualization of catheters and heart implants.
The technological advancements in the acquisition of live 3D images to guide minimally invasive procedures have also triggered the development of novel ways to visualize the data. Following the promising results produced by this pilot study, Philips and RealView Imaging will continue to explore the clinical value of combining live 3D imaging and medical holography, both in interventional cardiology and in other clinical areas.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on November 5, 2013
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