St. Luke’s gets latest 3D echo imaging device

The St. Luke’s Heart Institute has acquired the latest-generation three-dimensional (3D) cardiac ultrasound imaging equipment that provides better analysis and diagnosis of various heart conditions, which translate to better treatment.

The institute is the first and currently the only facility of its kind in the country that offers the top-of-the-line Philips IE33.

In line with this latest acquisition, Dr. Greg Rogelio, chief of the St. Luke’s Heart Institute Diagnostics and Instrumentations Division, recently completed extensive training in 3-D echocardiography at the University of Chicago Medical Center.

Live 3D echo imaging helps cardiologists identify heart disease and make appropriate treatment decisions. In 2002, leading medical equipment manufacturer Philips introduced its first-generation 3D echo imaging equipment, the Sonos 7500, which at that time revolutionized cardiac ultrasound imaging by providing better image quality, more valuable clinical information and improved diagnostic confidence.

The latest-generation IE33 model, however, offers all the benefits of the Sonos 7500 plus so much more.

The Philips IE33 is the first premium echocardiography system with fully integrated 2D and 3D software that measures important data from the heart, thus helping cardiologists determine the best treatment options.

Its transducer represents the biggest breakthrough in transducer material in 40 years. The transducer is the handheld portion of the ultrasound imaging machine that sends sound waves into the body and transmits them to a computer to form the ultrasound image.

The IE33’s cutting-edge transducer provides astonishingly crisp, clear and detailed images of tissues and organs that help doctors come up with accurate diagnoses and the best treatments.

With its various state-of-the-art features, the Philips IE33 is able to provide doctors with a "surgeon’s view" of the beating heart – as if they were holding it in their bare hands.

It enables doctors to see the functions of 17 different segments of the heart simultaneously and get two concurrent views from the same heartbeat.

Because of its hands-free voice command and one-button automated controls, the Philips IE33 is more user-friendly and less demanding to operate, enabling doctors to focus less on operating the machine and concentrate more on analyzing the images to arrive at an accurate diagnosis.