Cardiology (see more articles like this)

Fifteen year old Kyle Leister knows a lot about his heart due to a hole in his heart he’s had since he was a child that has resulted in three heart surgeries. But now, thanks to a new technology called Live 3D Echo, Kyle is seeing images of his heart that he never thought possible.

Kyle, along with his doctor at Florida Hospital, are seeing real-time, 3D images of the heart instantaneously, as if they were holding it in their hands – a view that has not be available until now.

This real-time view into the heart is helping physicians better diagnose cardiac problems, is becoming a valuable tool in surgical planning, and is offering patients a better understanding of their condition.

Conventional live 3D imaging (sometimes called 4D) has been around for almost 10 years for use in other applications such as ob/gyn, but it has been unable to capture instantaneous images of the beating heart.  It is unable to process the high frame rates required to keep up with heart movement.   The SONOS 7500 system with Live 3D Echo, manufactured by Philips Medical Systems, gives clinicians the ability to see the heart valves, vessels and chambers in action and "slice" the image to get progressive views through the heart tissue.

Early clinical use by physicians indicates that Live 3D Echo has the potential to:

• Help patients better visualize the nature of their condition
• Enhance diagnostic capability, thus reducing or eliminating the need for more expensive or invasive tests and procedures
• Provide better surgical planning because of improved visualization of the complex anatomy of the heart
• Provide live assessment of heart valve function
• Guide catheters in 3D space without x-ray exposure

Cardiovascular disease is the number one killer in the United States, claiming almost as many lives each year as the next seven leading causes of death combined.  More than 61.8 million Americans are affected by heart disease, according to current statistics.

For more information on Florida Hospital's cardiology programs, please visit: www.flheart.org.

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