Perhaps due to the 510(k) pending regulatory status — we always want what we cannot immediately have — the Artis One Angiography System attracted a lot of attention at the Siemens booth at the RSNA annual meeting in Chicago. This new system is currently under review by the FDA and its availability in the U.S. is unknown.
Perhaps due to the 510(k) pending regulatory status — we always want what we cannot immediately have — the Artis One Angiography System attracted a lot of attention at the Siemens booth at the RSNA annual meeting in Chicago. This new system is currently under review by the FDA and its availability in the U.S. is unknown.
The new angiography system is optimized for broad clinical utilization. As explained to me by a Siemens product manager, Artis one is designed for routine interventions, “including revascularizations of peripheral arterial or venous occlusions, functional tests of dialysis shunts in patients with kidney failure, diagnostic angiographies of narrowed coronary arteries and even pacemaker implantations.”
In a nutshell, the new system is designed to cover the majority of angiographic procedures. The highly flexible system stands for improved patient access and it features a new heads-up display with on-screen menu.
One quirk is that the system is floor-mounted. But the Artis one is similar in positioning flexibility to ceiling-mounted systems and requires substantially less space. It’s a compact: The new system occupies only 269 square feet, compared to the traditional 484 square feet required by ceiling-mounted systems. The Artis one also features several different axis configurations that users can move independently of one other, enabling physicians and hospital staff to easily position the system where needed – regardless of where they are standing.
The Artis is basketball-player friendly; it can manage body heights of up to six feet, 10 inches without the need for patient repositioning, even for peripheral vessel imaging. When necessary, the system allows free access to the patient’s head, enabling optimal care during the procedure.
Buttons on the Artis one’s tableside console are tactile and can be manipulated easily even under the sterile covering. Since the on-screen menu allows the physician to navigate directly using the heads-up display, all information regarding the procedure remains directly in front of the operator. The system’s comfortable 30-inch display size delivers images up to 90 percent larger than conventional 19-inch monitors.
Previously available only with Siemens’ premium family Artis Q and Artis Q.zen, Artis one’s Clearstent Live application for interventional cardiology allows the physician to mask out movement of the beating heart and enable stent placement in precisely the correct position.
The Artis one is also equipped with the proven “Megalix” X-ray tube of the Artis zee system family, featuring flat emitter technology. Using a tube current of up to 250 milliamperes (mA), the Artis one generates images of quality and high-contrast resolution. To keep physician and patient radiation exposure as low as possible, Artis one offers the most extensive feature set for dose reduction — including a new crystalline silicon detector — of any angiography system on the market.
By using 20 percent less energy than Siemens’ Artis zee family, Artis one is designed to help reduce operational costs. This is achieved, I was told, primarily through components manufactured by Siemens for industry automation.
No wonder the system was a head-turner!
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Disclaimer: Mr. Goldstein is paid by Siemens Healthcare for his reporting on RSNA.
