The recently launched EmboGuide from Philips is the company’s latest innovation in interventional oncology and is designed to treat difficult-to-reach tumors or tumors in patients who are deemed unsuitable for surgery. Designed for use with Philips’ interventional X-ray system to perform tumor embolization procedures, EmboGuide is a live 3D image guidance tool that supports the increasing number of minimally-invasive procedures. Such procedures involve the insertion of a catheter, which must be guided to the tumor site with the aid of live image-guidance. One example of tumor embolization procedure is transarterial chemo-embolization (TACE), used for palliative treatment of liver tumors. It involves simultaneous local administration of chemotherapy and beads that block the arteries feeding the liver tumor.
The system has been shown to detect more than twice as many tumor feeding arteries compared to conventional imaging methods such as Digital Subtraction Angiography (DSA). This allows interventional radiologists to optimize the catheter locations for embolization and plan a route to them. During the administration of the embolization agent, EmboGuide accurately superimposes the planning information onto the interventional X-ray system’s live images to monitor the treatment progress and determine its endpoint.
Philips
Eindhoven, Netherlands