Baptist Health Doctors Launch Azurion with FlexArm with Live Case

CORAL GABLES, Fla. – Miami Cardiac & Vascular Institute, the largest and most comprehensive cardiovascular center in the South Florida region, is the first in the United States to use technology in which it developed with Philips, that makes it easier for doctors to perform image guided procedures for heart and vascular disease.

Institute clinicians unveiled the new Azurion with FlexArm by Philips at the annual International Symposium on Endovascular Therapy (ISET) in South Florida on January 28, 2019. The advanced imaging technology is at the center of live cases during ISET, which is scheduled for Jan. 27-31.

“With FlexArm, Philips’ engineers have overcome near-impossible geometric and mechanical barriers to enable clinicians to achieve clinical excellence in image guided therapy,” said Barry T. Katzen, M.D., founder and chief medical executive of Miami Cardiac & Vascular Institute, part of Baptist Health South Florida.

The Azurion with FlexArm makes its debut at a time when cramped quarters are the norm in an interventional procedure room. The FlexArm gantry enables clinicians to quickly and easily visualize critical anatomy and identify changes to the patient during a procedure. Azurion with FlexArm includes a set of innovations that makes it easier for clinicians to perform imaging across the whole patient in both 2D and 3D. 

“FlexArm enables us to dramatically optimize procedures around the patient: we can get the optimal view of what’s going on inside the patient without encumbering all of the clinicians that are working around the table. The result is an innovation that’s not only clinically important but also very simple and intuitive to use – a critical factor in the heat of a complex procedure,” said Katzen, a founder of ISET who serves as a course director.

The range and complexity of diseases that can be treated with minimally invasive procedures continues to expand. Correspondingly, the procedures themselves are also becoming more complex, requiring more physicians from different disciplines to be at the patient’s tableside, working together in a highly coordinated way. As a result, the clinical team is required to carry out increasingly challenging procedures in a highly constrained environment.

“Two years on from its launch, Azurion is now established as our leading platform for interventional procedures, favored by clinicians for its intuitive, seamless approach that enables them to focus on treating the patient, and by hospital administrators for its positive impact on productivity and efficiency,” said Ronald Tabaksblat, business leader of Image Guided Therapy Systems, Philips. “FlexArm is the natural next step in our Azurion innovation journey, combining clinical and operational benefits to improve patient care and reduce costs, while opening up opportunities for new image-guided procedures as the field continues to grow.”

About Miami Cardiac & Vascular Institute

Miami Cardiac & Vascular Institute is the largest and most comprehensive cardiovascular facility in the region. The team of multilingual, multidisciplinary specialists has pioneered the development of minimally invasive techniques used to treat aneurysms, blockages in veins and arteries and holes in the heart.

Miami Cardiac & Vascular Institute is part of Baptist Health South Florida, the largest healthcare organization in the region, with 10 hospitals (Baptist Hospital, Baptist Children’s Hospital, Bethesda Hospital East, Bethesda Hospital West, Doctors Hospital, Fishermen’s Community Hospital, Homestead Hospital, Mariners Hospital, South Miami Hospital and West Kendall Baptist Hospital), more than 40 physician practices, 50 outpatient and urgent care facilities, Baptist Health Medical Group, Baptist Health Quality Network and internationally renowned centers of excellence spanning across Monroe, Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties. A not-for-profit organization supported by philanthropy and committed to our faith-based charitable mission of medical excellence, Baptist Health has more than 19,500 employees and more than 3,000 affiliated physicians. Baptist Health South Florida has been recognized by Fortune as one of the 100 Best Companies to Work For in America and by Ethisphere as one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies. For more information, visit BaptistHealth.net/newsroom and connect with us on Facebook at facebook.com/BaptistHealthSF and on Twitter and Instagram @BaptistHealthSF.

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