Siemens’ Artis zee^® angiography system has recently integrated the navigation technology MediGuide¹ from St. Jude Medical headquartered in St. Paul, Minnesota, U.S., for cardiac intervention purposes. Through magnetic targeting, MediGuide locates the catheter during cardiac interventions and projects its precise position in real-time on a previously acquired fluoroscopy image of the patient. MediGuide Technology highlights the radiation dose reduction potential since the position of the catheter can be tracked without using X-ray repeatedly during the procedure.

St. Jude Medical develops medical technology and services that focus on putting more control into the hands of those who treat cardiac, neurological and chronic pain patients worldwide; but it was the Heart Center in Leipzig, Germany, that performed the first interventions with Artis zee and the MediGuide Technology. The results thus far provide a signal as to where the future of electrophysiology is headed. “The low-radiation, precise localization of the catheter tip onto the pre-recorded fluoroscopy image is a most impressive function, because the system is able to compensate the motion from heart beat and breathing,” said Professor Dr. Gerhard Hindricks, Director of the Rhythmology Department. “For my team and me, this is clearly the future in electrophysiology.”
Dr. Christopher Piorkowski, MediGuide Project Team Leader at the Heart Center Leipzig: “Our clinical experience now includes more than 50 patients. The technology will have a significant impact in the field of catheter ablation, but also for the placement of left ventricular leads for cardiac resynchronization.”