Interventional cardiology is a non-surgical option for the treatment of a variety of heart problems and diseases. A subspeciality of cardiology, interventional cardiology uses catheter-based technology and techniques to diagnose and treat coronary artery disease, vascular disease, structural heart disease, and congenital heart defects. Interventional cardiologists use specialized tools such as catheters and advanced imaging techniques to measure and access cardiovascular functions and provide treatment that is minimally invasive, requires less time to perform, does not require general anesthesia, and offers a faster recovery time.
This is not “open” heart surgery! On the contrary, interventional cardiology typically requires only a small incision or just a needle puncture and does not require large cuts or an opening of your body. Instead, a catheter – a long, flexible instrument – is inserted through a patient’s blood vessels and then navigated to the area of concern. At this point, a patient’s condition can be then assessed and repaired.
Interventional cardiologists often use the latest techniques and cutting-edge technology. Continuing advances in interventional cardiology provides state-of-the-art diagnostic and therapeutic care. Among these advancements is the field of medical imaging. Many of us have heard of CT (computed tomography) scans, ultrasounds, and certainly MRIs (magnetic resonance imaging). These are all forms of medical imaging but are more often used in the assessment of a patient’s condition before the therapy – before the treatment.
What about the imaging during the treatment? Surely, an interventionalist needs to “see” while they perform a procedure inside the body – even when they don’t cut the body open. That’s where interventional X-ray systems come in! These systems provide real-time visualization that allows precision guidance during a procedure.
Though interventional cardiology provides many benefits when compared to more invasive surgeries, it is not without risk. As with any medical procedure, there is the risk of complications. And the very technology that provides the “eyes” to the interventionalist, also presents a risk of radiation exposure to not only the patient, but to the staff and to the interventionalist as well.
The risks of radiation exposure are well documented. However, just as technology can improve procedures and the medical systems that are used to perform, so too can technology help to reduce the risk that radiation exposure represents.
The interventional X-ray systems designed and built by Omega provide an automatic, hands-free solution to radiation reduction – delivering the benefit of consistent and repeatable radiation reduction to patients and staff beyond anything else in use today.
AI image-guided ROI systems are proven to be safer than non-AI systems and are quickly becoming the new standard of care for interventional imaging. The publications and science on the advantages of AI is clear and proven in a new study that compares an Omega AI image-guided ROI system to a competitor’s non-ROI system. This new modality obsoletes the status quo conventional non-AI systems.
Omega systems allow physicians and hospitals to provide the best care and radiation safety to their patients. If you’re a physician, staff, or a patient – which system would you want?
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