Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center now offers a new, revolutionary ultrasound system that enables cardiologists to see real-time, three-dimensional images of the beating heart. The Live 3D Echocardiagraphic Ultrasound System, a major breakthrough in cardiac imaging, allows cardiologists to see an image of the heart instantaneously and in motion, as if they were holding it in their hands. This new technology provides clinicians with views of the heart not obtainable from current conventional two-dimensional echo, yet at no additional expense or time for the patient. With the Live 3D Echo, Illinois Masonic physicians will now have the ability to view, in real-time, a hologram-type image of the heart and its complexities utilizing the same non-invasive and painless method as a two-dimensional echo.
Live 3D Echo can potentially reduce the normal exam time needed to obtain necessary views of the heart and more efficiently assess a patient’s condition, which is particularly beneficial for pediatric or hard-to-image patients. The Live 3-D Echo provides clinicians with an instant image of the heart that can be rotated and cropped to see the cardiac anatomy from multiple perspectives providing immediate information about a patient’s heart size, shape and anatomic relationships. The real-time view into the heart can help physicians more confidently diagnose cardiac problems in both adults and children, thus reducing or eliminating the need for more expensive or invasive tests and procedures, and contributing to lower health care costs. The Live 3-D Echo also may improve physician/patient communication with easy-to-understand three-dimensional images to assist in reducing patient fears about medical conditions and/or procedures.
Cardiovascular disease is the number one killer in the United States, claiming almost as many lives each year as the next seven leading causes of death combined. More than 61.8 million Americans are affected by heart disease according to current statistics. Echocardiography is one of the common methods utilized for early detection of heart disease.
“While many critical advances are being made everyday to develop treatments that enhance cardiac care, limitations existed in the ability to capture instantaneous, non-invasive views of the heart in the same way a surgeon would see during an operation,” said Cesar J. Herrera, M.D., medical director, echocardiography, at Illinois Masonic. “Live 3D Echo gives physicians the important advantage of being able to see an inside-out view of the heart without opening a patient’s chest. This can result in a more confident diagnosis, potentially less invasive procedures, more efficient surgery for those who need it and an opportunity for patients to better understand their condition.”
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