Royal Philips has announced the launch of EmboGuide, its latest innovation in interventional procedures for cancer, which treats difficult-to-reach tumours or tumours in patients who are deemed unsuitable for surgery.
EmboGuide is a live 3D image guidance tool that supports an increasing number of minimally-invasive procedures. It is designed for use in conjunction with Philips’ interventional X-ray system to perform tumour embolisation procedures. Such procedures involve blocking the arteries feeding a tumour to deprive it of nutrients and oxygen.
This procedure will decrease the need of chemotherapy for cancer patients, says Jose Fernandes, MD: Philips Healthcare for southern Africa.
The EmboGuide addresses the need for an enhanced 3D imaging system to make interventional cancer procedures more effective and easier to perform, and ultimately improve patient outcomes. It offers radiologists the ability to visualise and characterise tumour lesions as well as plan and execute procedures.
“Interventional oncology is a fast growing field that offers clinicians a viable treatment option for patients who are not suitable for surgical tumour removal,” says Fernandes. “Together with our partners, which includes clinicians and companies like BTG, we will leverage our combined expertise in image-guided interventions and therapies to increase this transformation from surgical procedures to minimally-invasive treatments in oncology.”
A specific example of a tumour embolisation procedure is transarterial chemo-embolisation (TACE), used for palliative treatment of liver tumours. It involves simultaneous local administration of chemotherapy and beads that block the arteries feeding the liver tumour.
“We can only treat what we see, yet the embolisation of all blood vessels that feed the liver tumour lesion is key for an effective TACE procedure. EmboGuide’s live 3D image guidance helps to improve the technical success of the procedure, as it can automatically identify the small tumour-feeders that are difficult to detect with conventional 2D angiographic imaging methods,” Fernandes says
See – EmboGuide leverages the ultra-low X-ray dose settings of Philips’ AlluraClarity interventional X-ray system and the fast, high quality imaging of the abdomen of XperCT Dual. XperCT Dual’s enhanced offers high quality 3D images of lesions, It offers clinicians a better view of the treatment targets for informed decision making while performing the procedure
Reach – EmboGuide helps to define the tumour lesions and features automatic identification of blood vessels that feed the lesions. It detects more than twice as many tumour feeding arteries compared to conventional imaging methods (Digital Subtraction Angiography (DSA). This allows interventional radiologists to optimize the catheter locations for embolization and plan a route to them.
Treat – In the treatment of intermediate liver cancer, the integrated use of our embolic device with image guidance is vital for successful treatment, says Mike Motion, BTG GM, Interventional Oncology. “Partnering with Philips has strengthened our ability to further develop this cohesive approach using DC Bead and Philips’ EmboGuide with the ultimate objective of advancing interventional oncology.”