Philips unveiled a vision for the future of cardiac care at ESC 2011

Royal Philips Electronics provided clinicians from across the globe with a glimpse of future innovations designed to advance cardiac care, including the current management of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and associated cardiac conditions, during the 2011 Congress of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC), which took place in Paris.

Cardiovascular disease remains the main cause of death in the European Union, claiming more than two million lives each year and costing the economy more than €100 billion annually.

“Philips has been a consistent game-changer in the area of healthcare for almost 100 years, developing innovative and integrated patient-focused solutions, including some of the earliest X-ray technologies,” commented Joris van den Hurk, general manager, Cardiology Care Cycle, for Philips Healthcare. “At this year’s ESC, we highlighted our vision of how future innovation will enable care-givers to transform the way cardiovascular disease is managed at each stage - from early detection and diagnosis, to hospital treatment and health care at home, in order to reduce the burden of cardiac disease for patients, doctors and society at large.” 

THE FUTURE OF CARDIAC CARE 

Solutions that will transform detection, diagnosis and treatment

This vision of future innovation is exemplified by the launch of the world’s first sleep apnea mobile application (“app”) designed specifically for cardiologists, and aiding early detection and diagnosis amongst their patients. It’s estimated that over 100 million people worldwide are suspected to have Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA), of which more than 80% remain undiagnosed.

OSA is particularly prevalent amongst people diagnosed with CVD and heart failure, and if untreated can contribute to the development of high blood pressure, diabetes, heart attack and stroke. The new app, called Sleep & Cardio aims to help expand cardiologists’ knowledge of sleep apnea and CVD, providing simple steps for identifying patients who are at risk, a summary of existing guidelines and access to the latest clinical information and training.

From diagnosis to treatment, Philips’ commitment to the advancement of CVD care was also being showcased at the ESC in the area of heart modeling - technology that is in development and aims to produce highly accurate and detailed models of a patient’s heart structure. Through ongoing research and development, the hope is that this future technology can provide information to clinicians quickly; to support them in planning and refining the execution of complex interventions based on an individual’s specific anatomy; and that it can calculate the likelihood of a successful outcome while reducing overall procedure time. 

Addressing the human and economic costs of hospital readmission

At ESC, Philips showcased an innovative new discharge planning model and patient education system, currently being developed in collaboration with Professor John Cleland, Head of the Department of Cardiology, Castle Hill Hospital, Kingston-upon-Hull, United Kingdom. This work is designed to address the burden of hospital readmissions of heart failure patients. Approximately one in four patients are currently readmitted to the hospital within 12 weeks of discharge, half of those within the first month, which accounts for approximately 75% of all heart failure costs. Improved discharge planning, combined with better patient education, may help to significantly reduce the number of readmissions each year. And with the management of heart failure consuming approximately 2.5 percent of the total healthcare budgets of industrialized countries –the average length of a hospital stay is11 days, and the cost per patient in Europe can run into several thousand euros for each hospitalization - the Philips discharge model and education system has the potential to save healthcare providers hundreds of millions of Euros each year.

New product introductions designed to advance cardiac care

In addition to future innovations, Philips also showcased a number of new devices at this year’s ESC, designed to further advance the management of CVD and associated conditions, in all stages of care.

For professional emergency responders, ESC featured the highly anticipated launch of HeartStart FR3 (not available for sale in the U.S.), the smallest and lightest⁷ professional-grade automated external defibrillator (AED) among leading global manufacturers.

Designed for use in the catherization lab, Philips launched the Xper Flex Cardio Physiomonitoring System. This system ushers in a new era of hemodynamic assessment, offering seamless integration of Fractional Flow Reserve (FFR) measurement and the power of 16-lead ECGs to interventional environments, alongside patented ST Mapping and Culprit Artery Detection. Using this system, physicians are able to assess a patient’s condition before and during the procedure, saving valuable time and assisting with procedure planning.

In addition, Philips Heart Navigator allows clinicians to match a 3D image of the patient’s cardiac anatomy with a live fluoroscopy image to show the position of catheters and the heart valve in real time, providing a procedure planning tool as well as live image guidance during the actual heart valve replacement operations.

Philips also showcased the ClearVue (not yet available for sale in the U.S.), a family of ultrasound solutions featuring innovative technology, smart design and ease of use to make high quality imaging available to a wider range of clinicians. The system features proprietary Active Array technology, an innovative solution that harnesses the power of larger ultrasound systems, enabling superb 2D, color and Doppler image quality for increased diagnostic confidence.

And for the management and treatment of sleep apnea (particularly prevalent in CVD patients), the BiPAP autoSV Advanced System One, a new servo-ventilation device that not only effectively treats patients with sleep apnea, but also provides improved real-time access to data, including compliance and efficacy, helping clinicians to assess future treatment. 

“ESC provided us with the opportunity to highlight our continued resolve to providing meaningful innovations that can help to address the significant impact CVD has across the world,” said van den Hurk. “From the launch of new devices that improve patient monitoring and tackle sleep apnea and cardiac arrest, to future innovation in heart modeling and patient discharge planning, Philips is blazing a trail in the current and future management of cardiac health.”