Futuristic medicine brought to life in an Australian first

Queenslanders will be the first in the country to have access to the latest lifesaving cardiac technology thanks to a $4 million boost from the Queensland Government.

Minister for Health and Ambulance Services Steven Miles unveiled the new state-of-the-art imaging and navigation system at Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital Cardiac Cath Lab.

“Patients at critical risk of a heart attack will have blockages easily identified and corrected while still awake without the need for invasive surgery, meaning less risk and better recovery time,” Mr Miles said.

“Through a combination of the next-generation Azurion platform and new imaging tools, we are also decreasing radiation exposure for both clinicians and patients by up to 50 per cent while improving and expanding the highly specialised procedures that are performed in this lab.

“This high-tech system has the added benefit of reducing patient anxiety, through roof-mounted TV screens, mood lighting and music.

“This new technology not only looks amazing, but will produce very real benefits for thousands of Queenslanders.”

Interventional cardiologist Dr Peter Stewart said the new lab improved the clarity and quality of clinical images, and allowed for integration across diagnostic tools and cases.

“Our patients are awake during their procedure so when they enter the lab, they select their lighting, music and TV preferences via a touch pad to help bring a sense of comfort and control to what can be a daunting experience,” Dr Stewart.

“Plus, this technology navigates us through the human body like never before with a much higher image quality. We’re extremely excited to be using this system and are now one of only a few hospitals in the world to do so.”

Health Systems Leader for Philips ASEAN Pacific Diederik Zeven said he was delighted that RBWH had become one of the first facilities to have the future proof Azurion image guided therapy platform installed.

“Hospitals are facing growing patient demand and need solutions that provides both impactful clinical and operational improvements and can deliver superior patient care,” Mr Zeven said.

“RBWH is now a pioneer in this field as a hospital having the Philips Azurion Ambient Experience and biplane installation, a true first for Australia as well as for the Asia Pacific.”