Faster stroke treatment with application for imaging of blood flow in brain

22 February 2010

Siemens Healthcare has developed a new software application that enables the visualisation of parenchymal blood flow during minimally invasive interventions in the brain for the first time.

This feature will help neuroradiologists to shorten the time from diagnosis to treatment in stroke patients by displaying the condition of the cerebral tissue directly in a hospital's angio suite. It is available on the Artis zee systems, Siemens’ product range for interventional radiology and cardiology.

Minimally invasive techniques for stroke treatment involve guiding a thin catheter through the arteries of the brain to either deliver a drug to dissolve the blood clot or mechanically remove it. By displaying the current condition of the cerebral tissue directly in the angio suite, syngo Neuro Parenchymal Blood Volume, Interventional Suite (PBV IR) assists in the accurate guidance of the catheter and is equally helpful for tumour biopsy and treatment, tissue embolisation and vasospasm therapy.

The PBV information is generated via two C-arm rotations around the patient coupled with a steady-state contrast injection. The sophisticated processing algorithms of the system use the resulting data to generate a neurological PBV map, which is available at tableside in less than 40 seconds.

Another benefit of the new software is that it is capable of providing blood volume data for the whole brain, unlike traditional CT acquisition and allows the clinician to review the information from any orientation. syngo Neuro PBV IR uses cone-beam CT technology (syngo Dyna CT) to acquire the information required for such advanced tissue visualisation.

“Approximately 110,000 people suffer from stroke every year, making it the third biggest cause of death in the UK. Time is vital in stroke care and the earlier the condition is treated, the larger the chance that as little brain tissue as possible is destroyed,” said Susie Guthrie, AX Product Manager at Siemens Healthcare. “Our new application for stroke treatment assists in speeding up minimally invasive procedures to ensure that the patient receives the fastest and most effective treatment.”

Siemens’ Artis zee systems are available in biplane, multi-axial, ceiling-mounted, floor-mounted and multi-functional configurations. syngo Neuro PBV IR was first introduced at the Annual Meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) 2009.