Sam Brusco, Associate Editor02.23.24
Philips has revealed its LumiGuide imaging technology, which uses light to navigate through blood vessels instead of X-ray.
The company’s Fiber Optic RealShape (FORS) technology was first used in late 2023 in Maastricht University Medical Center in the Netherlands, closely followed by the University of Alabama at Birmingham in the U.S. It’s now available to major U.S. and European Aortic Centers of Excellence.
LumiGuide’s radiation-free tech can be particularly useful in complex aortic procedures. It uses light reflected along an optical fiber inside a guidewire to capture 3D, high-resolution, color images of devices—including off-the-shelf catheters. This is done inside the body in real-time, from any angle and in multiple views, according to the company.
In a limited release to 900 aortic centers, over 900 patients underwent procedures. One site boasted a 37% reduced complex aortic procedure duration and 56% reduced radiation exposure compared to X-ray.
Prof. Geert Willem Schurink, a vascular surgeon at Maastricht University Medical Center, who performed the first surgical procedure with LumiGuide, said, “This AI-based semi-automatic registration is very quick and accurate, even in the presence of stent grafts. Especially, if there is a need to re-register the device being guided in the patient’s body during the procedure, it is extremely helpful.”
Working exclusively with compatible Philips systems like Azurion, LumiGuide also includes AI-based recognition to register the guidewire. All the doctor has to do is confirm the wire’s registration.
Philips hopes its second-gen LumiGuide technology will pave the way for new, radiation-free procedures. The company shared plans to expand its application beyond aortic procedures.
"If we can see more, we can proceed more quickly and more confidently," said Dr. Atul Gupta, chief medical officer for Image Guided Therapy and Precision Diagnosis at Philips and practicing interventional radiologist. “In effect, LumiGuide is a 3D human GPS powered by light.”
The company’s Fiber Optic RealShape (FORS) technology was first used in late 2023 in Maastricht University Medical Center in the Netherlands, closely followed by the University of Alabama at Birmingham in the U.S. It’s now available to major U.S. and European Aortic Centers of Excellence.
LumiGuide’s radiation-free tech can be particularly useful in complex aortic procedures. It uses light reflected along an optical fiber inside a guidewire to capture 3D, high-resolution, color images of devices—including off-the-shelf catheters. This is done inside the body in real-time, from any angle and in multiple views, according to the company.
In a limited release to 900 aortic centers, over 900 patients underwent procedures. One site boasted a 37% reduced complex aortic procedure duration and 56% reduced radiation exposure compared to X-ray.
Prof. Geert Willem Schurink, a vascular surgeon at Maastricht University Medical Center, who performed the first surgical procedure with LumiGuide, said, “This AI-based semi-automatic registration is very quick and accurate, even in the presence of stent grafts. Especially, if there is a need to re-register the device being guided in the patient’s body during the procedure, it is extremely helpful.”
Working exclusively with compatible Philips systems like Azurion, LumiGuide also includes AI-based recognition to register the guidewire. All the doctor has to do is confirm the wire’s registration.
Philips hopes its second-gen LumiGuide technology will pave the way for new, radiation-free procedures. The company shared plans to expand its application beyond aortic procedures.
"If we can see more, we can proceed more quickly and more confidently," said Dr. Atul Gupta, chief medical officer for Image Guided Therapy and Precision Diagnosis at Philips and practicing interventional radiologist. “In effect, LumiGuide is a 3D human GPS powered by light.”