Personally, I think both Philips Healthcare and and BrainLAB are great companies as they have some really nifty products that are in a class of its own; and I am quite glad that they are collaborating on the integration of intra-operative angiography and image-guided surgery (IGS) to drive the compatibility of the technologies in the operating room environment (and yes, the patients are the ones who will benefit.
According to the Chicago-based BrainLAB and Philips – “The integration of angiography and IGS would provide surgeons with real-time information during interventions that may lead to more precise surgical procedures” . (Kinda obvious in my opinion)
But this is what caught my attention, “image-guided, intra-operative angiography can enhance both neurosurgery and spinal surgery, and will extend the application range of cardiovascular surgery” .
So how does this work? According to Healthimaging.com, BrainLAB will develop interfaces between Philips’ angiographic imaging systems and its VectorVision system for the automatic registration of intra-operatively acquired angiographic data. This level of integration will allow surgeons to upload datasets into the IGS system without the need for additional manual steps.
Another important feature is that the position of the patient and surgical instruments are tracked in real time through BrainLAB software.
In other words, more clinical workflow automation resulting in more time to perform the surgery (well, that’s what Healthcare Informatics is all about isn’t it, saving lives by increasing efficiency and changing how things work – for the better. 🙂
BinaryHealthCare (BNHC) 