For Immediate Release
Contact:
mktgcomm@tams.com
TOSHIBA PROVIDES JOHNS HOPKINS APLIO CV ULTRASOUND SYSTEM FOR USE IN GROUNDBREAKING
CLINICAL TRIAL
Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center Initiates First-Ever Study Using Ultrasound
and Computerized Tomography (CT) to Assess Outcomes Following Cardiac Resynchronization
Therapy (CRT)
TUSTIN,
Calif., Nov. 7, 2005 – A leader in ultrasound technology innovation, Toshiba
America Medical Systems, Inc. (TAMS), today announced an agreement to provide Johns
Hopkins Bayview Medical Center the state-of-the-art AplioTM CV
ultrasound system for use in a groundbreaking clinical trial. The Aplio CV,
Toshiba’s all-digital ultrasound system for advanced cardiac applications, will
enable clinicians in the Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, Department of Non-invasive
Cardiac Imaging, to conduct a high-volume of cardiovascular echocardiography procedures.
Under the terms
of the agreement, the Aplio CV will be used for 30 months in a clinical study in
conjunction with Toshiba’s Aquilion 64 CFXTM, the world’s
only true volumetric 64-slice computerized tomography (CT) system. The clinical
trial, entitled "The Combined Use of Tissue Doppler Echo and Cardiac Multi-Detector
CT to Assess Outcome Following Resynchronization Therapy," commenced in October
and involves approximately 50-100 patients. According to investigators, no
other study has evaluated both ultrasound and CT.
The overall objective
of the study is to utilize the combination of these modalities to optimize cardiac
resynchronization, predict the adequacy of response to therapy and to study the
effects of dyssynchrony.
The study aims
to determine which echocardiography measurement or combination of measurements best
predicts CT-determined reverse-remodeling in cardiac patients undergoing resynchronization
therapy and exploring whether coronary venous anatomy predicts CT determined reverse-remodeling
in cardiac patients undergoing resynchronization therapy.
“The combination
of cardiac CT and Tissue-Doppler echocardiography has the potential to obtain almost
all clinically important cardiac information needed to evaluate the patient, plan
the implantation procedure and assess the outcome,” said Gordon Parhar, director,
Ultrasound Business Unit, TAMS. “The decision by Johns Hopkins, the No. 1
rated hospital in the country, to utilize not one, but two of our systems for this
unique study, validates Toshiba’s superior technology and excellent clinical support
team.”
About
Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy
Cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT), which is sometimes called biventricular
pacing, is a form of therapy for congestive heart failure caused by dilated cardiomyopathy.
CRT uses a specialized pacemaker to coordinate the action of the right and left
ventricles in patients with heart failure. In approximately 30 percent of
patients with heart failure, an abnormality in the heart's electrical conducting
system (called an "intraventricular conduction delay" or bundle branch block) causes
the two ventricles to beat in an asynchronous fashion. That is, instead of
beating simultaneously, the two ventricles beat slightly out of phase. This
asynchrony greatly reduces the efficiency of the ventricles in patients with heart
failure.
CRT coordinates
the beating of the two ventricles by pacing both ventricles simultaneously.
This differs from typical pacemakers, which pace only the right ventricle1.
Aplio
CV: Premium Ultrasound
The Aplio CV features next-generation Tissue Doppler and contrast imaging technology
based on Toshiba’s Intelligent Component Architecture (ICA), which allows faster
processing of more complex data and delivers dramatically improved image quality.
ICA permits the system to perform highly complex data operations, such as Tissue
Harmonic Imaging and Pulse Subtraction techniques with frequency compounding.
For high performance
cardiac examinations as well as research and quantification studies, the Aplio CV
offers a comprehensive package for Doppler measurements and advanced clinical data
analysis, including Tissue Doppler Imaging Quantification (TDI-Q) for improved analyses
for TDI images and the award-winning iASSISTTM, which
allows sonographers to improve their body positioning during exams, reducing operator
strain.
Aquilion
64 CFX: High-Resolution, Non-Invasive CT
The Aquilion 64 CFX features the industry’s most advanced multi-detector CT
imaging technology available and utilizes Toshiba’s unique 64-row Quantum detector,
which enables the system to deliver high-speed, high-resolution cardiovascular imaging
with the lowest noise and most anatomical coverage. The system’s Quantum detector
enables the Aquilion to acquire 64 simultaneous slices of 0.5 mm with each 400-millisecond
gantry revolution. The result is the most precise isotropic imaging of the
heart, or any region of the body, during a breath-hold under 10 seconds.
About
Toshiba America Medical Systems and Its Products
With headquarters in Tustin, Calif., Toshiba America Medical Systems markets,
sells, distributes and services diagnostic imaging systems, and coordinates clinical
diagnostic imaging research for all modalities in the United States. Toshiba
Medical Systems Corporation, an independent group company of Toshiba Corporation,
is a global leading provider of diagnostic medical imaging systems and comprehensive
medical solutions, such as CT, X-ray, Ultrasound, Nuclear Medicine, MRI and information
systems. Toshiba Corporation is a leader in information and communications
systems, electronic components, consumer products, and power systems. Toshiba
has approximately 162,000 employees worldwide and annual sales of $55 billion.
For more information
about the Toshiba and its wide range of medical imaging products, please visit www.medical.toshiba.com.
AplioTM, Aquilion 64TM and
iASSISTTM are trademarks of Toshiba Medical Systems
Corporation.
1Source: About.com -
http://heartdisease.about.com/cs/heartfailure/a/CRT.htm
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