Until recently, the city of Peine in Lower Saxony, Germany, had to transfer patients requiring catheter examinations to hospitals in the neighboring county. This meant critical delays in both examination and treatment for these patients. In an effort to improve patient care and service, the former community hospital in Peine – a member of the Allgemeines Krankenhaus (AKH) Celle Group – opened its first heart cath lab in May of 2008. For the first time in Germany, the floor-mounted angiography system AXIOM^® Artis FC and the integrated recording system AXIOM Sensis XP were connected to the cardiological image archiving system syngo^® Dynamics from Siemens.

syngo Dynamics is able to combine images from cineangio-graphy, computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), echocardiographic images as well as hemodynamic data and information about medication received in a single report. This optimizes the workflow in cardiology and enables precise reporting. "While selecting a suitable provider, we were looking for integrated as well as cost-effective solutions for angiography systems and IT. The Siemens spectrum fully met these requirements with the real-time data exchange of AXIOM Sensis XP and syngo Dynamics,” reasons Arturo Junge, Director of Administration at the hospital.

The Head of the Medical Clinic (cardiology and pneumology), Petra Wacker, MD, greatly appreciates that both diagnostic image viewing and dynamic image processing are handled at one and the same workstation. “We profit especially from reports that are generated almost automatically, a fact which greatly reduces the risks incurred through user errors. This allows us to ensure high-quality patient care,” concludes Wacker. Keeping the other hospitals of the AKH Celle Group in mind, Wilfried Schroeter, the Head of Medical Technology, adds: “In the future, our networking will accelerate data exchange and provide us with such advantages as, for example, long-term archiving. This will certainly expand the existing cooperation of our hospitals.”