A press release from the St. Antonius Hospital and Royal Philips Electronics announced a breakthrough during a clinical study of interventional treatment technologies. According to early data from the study, a new x-ray interventional system could reduce patient radiation exposure by 75 percent.

According to details from the press release, the x-ray is designed for the image-guided treatment of patients with vascular disease. Using the new x-ray technology developed by researchers at Philips, interventional radiologists at the hospital were able to significantly reduce the amount of x-ray radiation that patients receive during these image-guided endovascular operations. At the same time, the new x-ray system was able to maintain a high degree of image fidelity comparable to higher-radiation devices.

During the clinical study, those participating received a catheter-based treatment for patients with narrow iliac arteries resulting from atherosclerosis. While the final results of the study were slated to be released in mid-2013, promising preliminary results led to an earlier press release.

Dr. Marco van Strijen is head researcher and interventional radiologist for the study at St. Antonius Hospital. In prepared remarks, he said, “We did not have to fall back on the existing interventional system, which uses a normal dose of X-ray radiation, with any of the 50 patients. We could see that the images obtained with the new system were just as sharp. It enabled us to limit the X-ray dose administered to patients during treatment.”

References

www.newscenter.philips.com/main/standard/news/press/2012/20121218-St-Ant...