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> Home > About ECMC > News > Press Release
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New Tools Enhance Patient Diagnoses, Treatment, Service at ECMC
BUFFALO, NEW YORK: May 9, 2008-ECMC (Erie County Medical Center) Corporation announced today that it is now utilizing a state-of-the-art, cardiovascular ultrasound system as well as a new miniaturized, mobile cardiovascular ultrasound device.
The GE Healthcare Vivid 7 Dimension '06 gives clinicians fully integrated real-time 4D and multi-dimensional imaging capabilities. With it, ECMC brings increased opportunity to the Western New York region by offering physicians the ability to more precisely detect and diagnose pathology that they may not have been able to see before while also improving clinical productivity. The increased capabilities of the Vivid 7 Dimension '06 can help physicians better manage their cardiovascular patients and enhance their diagnostic confidence. The 4D system provides new echocardiography acquisition, reconstruction and analysis techniques that allow physicians to view images in multiple planes simultaneously. This ability to acquire multiple images from the same heartbeat without moving the probe results in more accurate cardiovascular information in fewer, faster steps. The Vivid 7 Dimension's unique features, provide ECMC physicians with new and enhanced cardiovascular ultrasound clinical tools: 4D Imaging-real-time display of 3D images of the heart provides more information on cardiac function and better communication of the heart's structure and function; 4D Tissue Synchronization Imaging (TSI)-takes three simultaneous planes from a single heartbeat to create a dynamic 4D model with quantitative measurements to better communicate cardiac dyssynchrony. Additional reporting format of a "bull's eye report" communicates dyssynchrony in a format more easily understood by the electrophysiology (EP) physician; Automated Function Imaging (AFI)-assesses and quantifies left ventricle wall motion to help detect abnormalities; and Blood Flow Imaging (BFI)-vascular imaging mode that gives clinicians a better understanding and delineation of blood flow in vessels.
"The 4D ultrasound gives physicians at ECMC a new tool to help diagnose cardiovascular disease for their patients," said Jacqueline Blackley, Vice President of Cardiovascular Services for ECMC. "The ability to obtain grayscale, color, Doppler and 4D images from the Vivid 7 Dimension '06 will likely shorten exam time and increase the diagnostic information obtained about each patient."
The GE Healthcare Vivid i cardiovascular ultrasound system provides high-performance, full-featured imaging in a lightweight design. With this miniaturized ultrasound device, ECMC introduces a new era in diagnostic mobility to the Western New York community by offering an innovative means for doctors to obtain the information they need at the bedside or in the operating room to diagnose patients more efficiently. Now ECMC clinicians are able to perform echo (echocardiography) exams from any location. With the appearance, dimensions, and utilities of a portable computer, the Vivid i provides all the diagnostic capabilities of a clinical stand-alone ultrasound system that weighs 30 times less.
"With its ease of movement and diagnostic image quality, the portable ultrasound system makes it easier for the doctor to go to the patient to perform an ultrasound scan, rather than the reverse," explained Jacqueline Blackley.
With the Vivid i, ECMC can now offer new and enhanced medical ultrasound capabilities, such as: mobility-the physicians at ECMC can make it possible for patients to receive these diagnostic exams anywhere, as opposed to being transported to an echo lab; and wireless capabilities-the wireless capabilities enable physicians to transfer files instantly from the system to other physicians for consultation. The physicians at ECMC now have a new tool to help them more quickly diagnose cardiovascular disease.
"These new ultrasound systems are enabling us to break barriers in speed and accuracy of patient exams," said Blackley. "The technology is greatly benefiting ECMC physicians and most importantly-our patients."
The ECMC Corporation includes an advanced academic medical center (ECMC) with 550 inpatient beds and 136 skilled-nursing-home beds, on- and off-campus health centers, over 40 outpatient specialty care clinics and the Erie County Home, a skilled nursing facility. ECMC is the regional center for trauma, burn care, rehabilitation and is a major teaching facility for the State University of New York at Buffalo. Most ECMC physicians, dentists and pharmacists are dedicated faculty members of the University. More Western New York residents are choosing ECMC for exceptional patient care and customer service provided as a result of its Culture of Care.
NEWS CONTACT: Joe Cirillo at 716-898-4300 or jcirillo@ecmc.edu
