New, State-of-the-Art Cardiac Flat-Panel Detector Technology Enhances Overall Workflow for Busy Hospital

At Moore Regional, we have long offered our community the sophisticated cardiovascular care usually reserved for larger metropolitan healthcare facilities. In an effort to further enhance our level of patient care, the hospital decided to upgrade the cardiology department’s existing fleet of vascular X-ray systems replacing older equipment that was beginning to require frequent maintenance, with newer, more advanced technologies. Administrators, together with the cardiology department, began looking for a system that could deliver better image quality, less radiation and maximum ease-of-use. We began by evaluating several cardiac flat-panel detector (FPD) technologies from various vendors in an effort to select a technology that best met our needs. Because ours was only the second or third hospital in the country to adopt the new cardiac FPD, we evaluated the clinical benefits closely. For nearly twenty years, we had been satisfied with our existing Toshiba equipment and the service the company had provided. In 2002, after a thorough evaluation, we decided to acquire the Infinix-i Series vascular X-ray system (Toshiba America Medical Systems) to meet our cardiac imaging needs. Clinical Benefits and Improved Patient Care Using FPD Technology By July 2003, we had completed the installation of our new Infinix-i vascular X-ray system, equipped with the cardiac FPD, in three separate catheterization labs. Designed to perform advanced cardiovascular studies, the cardiac FPD offers superior image quality and radiation dose safety features for noninvasive cardiac diagnostic procedures. Implementing this new technology has allowed Moore Regional to realize many benefits, including enhanced image quality for improved diagnosis, increased patient turnaround time and comfort, as well as expanded treatment capabilities. Integrating the latest imaging technology, the Infinix-i series with FPD allows physicians to visualize the outlines of blood vessels, eliminating degradation toward the border of the detector. With better clarity of detail and image length and size, we are able to perform procedures with greater accuracy, resulting in better patient outcomes. Using the cardiac FPD, we have been able to perform procedures including cardiovascular angiography, catheterization and other interventional procedures, such as guidewire and stent visualization. The system offers the ability to visualize fine details more clearly and make intricate procedures safer and more precise. In terms of patient throughput, our new vascular X-ray system allows us to conduct each cardiac study more quickly, decreasing the amount of time needed to complete each procedure most notably with larger, difficult-to-image patients. Subsequently, we have been able to add at least one extra patient daily. By migrating to the cardiac FPD technology, our operators have improved bariatric care, conducting procedures on patients whom we previously could not accommodate. Using the old technology, the patient weight limit was 350 pounds. Now, we can treat patients weighing nearly 500 pounds. In fact, we have successfully performed several cardiac catheterizations on patients exceeding 400 pounds. In the past, the system’s tubes became very hot when imaging our heavier, requiring us to wait at least 5 to 10 minutes for the tubes to cool. With the Infinix-i series, the cardiac FPD converts the X-rays into useable images with more efficiency, allowing us to shave minutes off patient cases. This has helped our facility to perform diagnostic catheterizations and cardiac cases more effectively, increasing efficiency by 20 to 25 percent. Patient safety is another area that has improved since the integration of the Infinix-i series. In addition to reducing the length of time a patient spends on hard examination tables, we have also been able to reduce patient exposure to radiation. The system, with its cardiac FPD, enables variable frame rates for improved image quality at a lower dose, outperforming competing systems by realizing up to a 20 percent dose reduction. Our patient satisfaction scores have always been in the top 10 percent, and the new Infinix has contributed to maintaining our status as one of the top scorers in patient satisfaction for cardiovascular services. Continuing a Tradition of Excellence Today, Moore Regional is conducting approximately 550 studies every month in the cardiology department. More than half of these are conducted using our new cardiac FPD technology representing a 10 percent increase in cardiovascular studies performed prior to the installation of the new systems. Toshiba did a great job getting our department up to speed and training our staff members to use the FPD technology, and their ongoing service and support post-installation have ensured that our catheterization laboratories continue to run smoothly and efficiently.

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