Philips
(NYSE: PHG)
announced the introduction of its new LumiGuide imaging technology that uses light to help navigate blood vessels.
The company has now made LumiGuide — first used in late 2023 to treat patients in the Netherlands — available to major aortic centers that perform complex aortic repairs in the U.S. and Europe.
LumiGuide offers radiation-free technology, which Philips believes could provide game-changing benefits for complex aortic procedures. Philips said that, for decades, clinicians could only rely on X-ray imaging to guide devices through blood vessels in endovascular procedures. However, in addition to potentially harmful radiation, X-ray only produces 2D black and white images.
With more complex procedures, like aortic aneurysm repair, cases also take more time. That leads to higher radiation doses.
LumiGuide uses light reflected along an optical fiber inside a guidewire, generating 3D, high-resolution, color images of devices. These devices, including off-the-shelf catheters, are inside the patient’s body and visualized in real-time from any angle in multiple views.
“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. “In effect, LumiGuide is a 3D human GPS powered by light.”
More about LumiGuide from Philips
Philips said it’s already seen promising study results from LumiGuide from more than 900 patients who have undergone procedures. One site produced a 37% reduction in complex aortic procedure time and 56% less radiation exposure compared to X-ray.
LumiGuide works exclusively with compatible interventional systems from Philips, such as Azurion. It also includes time-saving features, with AI-based recognition. This registers the guidewire quickly and efficiently, eliminating the need for doctors to manually register their devices.
Philips plans to collect more clinical data at existing sites in advance of making LumiGuide available globally. It plans to enable more devices to work with the technology and potentially go beyond aortic procedures. The company says it wants to move toward bringing healthcare closer to entirely radiation-free surgery.
Professor Geert Willem Schurink, vascular surgeon at Maastricht University Medical Center, performed the first surgical procedure with LumiGuide.
“This AI-based semi-automatic registration is very quick and accurate, even in the presence of stent grafts,” he said. “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.”