Mar 27, 2018

Futuristic medicine brought to life in an Australian first

Media release by the Minister for Health and Minister for Ambulance Services, The Honourable Steven Miles, Queensland Health

Brisbane, Australia-Queenslanders will be the first in the country to have access to the latest lifesaving cardiac technology thanks to a $4 million boost from the Palaszczuk Government.

Minister for Health and Ambulance Services Steven Miles unveiled the new state-of-the-art imaging and navigation system at Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital Cardiac Cath Lab.

“Patients at critical risk of a heart attack will have blockages easily identified and corrected while still awake without the need for invasive surgery meaning less risk and better recovery time,” Mr Miles said.

“Through a combination of the next-generation Azurion platform and new imaging tools, we are also decreasing radiation exposure for both clinicians and patients by up to 50 per cent while improving and expanding the highly specialised procedures that are performed in this lab."

“This high-tech system has the added benefit of reducing patient anxiety, through roof-mounted TV screens, mood lighting and music."

“This new technology not only looks amazing, but will produce very real benefits for thousands of Queenslanders.”

Interventional cardiologist Dr Peter Stewart said the new lab improved the clarity and quality of clinical images, and allowed for integration across diagnostic tools and cases.

Our patients are awake during their procedure so when they enter the lab, they select their lighting, music and TV preferences via a touch pad to help bring a sense of comfort and control to what can be a daunting experience,

Dr. Peter Stewart

Plus, this technology navigates us through the human body like never before with a much higher image quality. We’re extremely excited to be using this system and are now one of only a few hospitals in the world to do so.”

Health Systems Leader for Philips ASEAN Pacific Diederik Zeven said he was delighted that RBWH had become one of the first facilities to have the future proof Azurion image guided therapy platform installed.

Patients at critical risk of a heart attack will have blockages easily identified and corrected while still awake without the needfor invasive surgery meaning less risk and better recovery time

Mr. Steven Miles

“RBWH is now a pioneer in this field as a hospital having the Philips Azurion Ambient Experience and biplane installation, a true first for Australia as well as for the Asia Pacific.”

Background:

The RBWH Cardiac Cath Lab sees 2300 patients every year.
The lab performs procedures including: Coronary Angiography, Coronary Stenting, Cardiac Device Insertions (Pacemakers & Defibrillators), Atrial Fibrillation ablations, Electrophysiology studies & ablations. These procedures, when compared to other imaging techniques like CT and x-ray, involve higher levels of radiation, so it is important to minimise what staff and patients are exposed to.
The Azurion technology is an image guided therapy platform developed by Philips and provides clinicians with the technology they need to improve their lab performance and provide high-end care to patients.

About Royal Philips

Royal Philips (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHIA) is a leading health technology company focused on improving people's health and enabling better outcomes across the health continuum from healthy living and prevention, to diagnosis, treatment and home care. Philips leverages advanced technology and deep clinical and consumer insights to deliver integrated solutions. Headquartered in the Netherlands, the company is a leader in diagnostic imaging, image-guided therapy, patient monitoring and health informatics, as well as in consumer health and home care. Philips' health technology portfolio generated 2016 sales of EUR 17.4 billion and employs approximately 70,000 employees with sales and services in more than 100 countries. News about Philips can be found at www.philips.com/newscenter.