Impro Saving Heart Doctors And Patients Time And Money (NAPSA)—Preventing the approximate 1.25 million heart attacks suffered by Americans each year is a key priority for health care providers. Beyond lifestyle changes, new advances in medical technologies—such as the use of computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance (MRI) for heart assessment and real-time 38D ultrasound scans—are enabling doctors to view the heart and surrounding areas without opening the chest, permitting them to more easily and accurately diagnose heart disease. Using these technologies is helping to reduce the impact of heart attacks on patients’ quality of life. In addition, because doc- tors are able to treat patients’ heart conditions more efficiently, they can often avoid having to schedule additional appointments and procedures—saving themselves and patients time and money. At this year’s American College of Cardiology meeting, Philips Medical Systems, a pioneer in bringing medical technologies to health care providers around the breakthroughsin the treatment of heart disease, drug coated stents are used to keep patients’ arteries open. Being able to see stents in great detail once they are placed in the body allows doctors to more accurately and quickly position them, shortening surgery times technologies that enable doctors to better assess patients’ heart status and determinebest next treatment steps, including medication, non- and ensuringeffective treatment. “With StentBoost I can see right away howthestent is placed in the artery and make adjustments without having to schedule an additional office visit for the patient,” says Mark Goodwin, M.D., cardiologist, Midwest Heart Specialists, and director of the Edward Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory. “As more doctors recognize the importance of medical technologies, treating heart dis- One example is Philips StentBoost, which provides doctors with detailed x-ray images of stents placed in coronary arteries. Considered among the biggest time intensive andless expensive.” To learn more about how medical technologies are helping doctors moreeffectively treat heart disease, go to www.medical.philips.com. world, showcased several medical invasive procedures or surgery. ease will become less invasive, less
