When diagnosing heart disease, clinicians need imaging technology that is accurate, easy and patient-focused.Credit: Kateryna Kon/SPL/Getty Images
For healthcare professionals only
Cardiac PET imaging is a non-invasive procedure that can quickly and accurately diagnose heart disease, which is responsible for one in four deaths in the United States. Since 1989, Bracco Diagnostics has provided innovative products and services to help health care providers provide cardiac PET studies for their patients. In October 2020, the FDA approved Bracco’s new Model 1700 Infusion System which works in tandem with CardioGen 82® (Rubidium Rb 82 generator). Kim McDaniel explains how this new infusion system will improve clinicians’ workflow, increase efficiency and enhance patient care.
How does your infusion system work?
Our offering for cardiac PET imaging is a combination of a drug—in this case the CardioGen-82 generator—and the drug delivery device, the infusion system. The CardioGen-82 generator produces a radioactive tracer (Rb82) that has a very short half-life. Because of the short half-life, the dose from the generator must be delivered directly to the patient by the infusion system. As the patient is being scanned, the tracer is injected using the infusion system, which allows clinicians to obtain images of the heart.
What are some features of the new infusion system?
The new infusion system is a significant improvement over our classic model that was launched in the early 1990s. It has a user- friendly touch screen, and the software provides instant access to patient and study data. The system is ergonomically designed with a door on the top that makes it easy to install the CardioGen-82 generator and other components. The patient study parameters are completely customizable for each patient you can easily change doses, protocols or injection rates for each cardiac PET study. There are also many safety features that the new system automatically tracks. With any radioactive tracer, there are regulatory requirements such as quality control documentation. The updated infusion system monitors the documentation automatically, reducing the need for hard copy record keeping. Finally, a post-infusion saline flush pushes everything out of the patient’s IV line to optimize the appropriate dose delivered to the patient.
How do these features save users time?
The CardioGen-82 generator has a required daily quality control procedure that takes about an hour and must be done before any patients can be imaged. The new infusion system allows users to pre-program quality control to run automatically overnight, so it’s done by morning. The system also allows clinicians to directly input patient information, and it stores records on each study. Our customers can run patient, dosing, and quality control reports — just about anything that a regulator or site administrator would need. Keeping on-board system records saves time because clinicians no longer have to keep written notes or fill out charts at the end of the workday.
How did you develop the new infusion system?
We got a lot of feedback from our customers and our own clinical applications specialists, and we used that feedback to create a product that supported them and their patients. They wanted a system that was easy to use and intuitive. They wanted workflow efficiency and freedom from keeping paper records. Safety features were also very important. It took a lot of listening and a lot of work to boil down feedback from our customers, field team, and engineers to make the new system feasible. But we put that feedback to work and centered a product around it.
When will the new system be available?
The official launch date was November 30, 2020, and we’ll be rolling out the new system throughout 2021. Over the next 18 to 24 months, we well be replacing all the existing infusion systems at our current customer sites. We will offer on-site training for each customer to review the features and how to use the new system. We have always been committed to training and support to make sure our customers know how to use the product to its fullest potential and get the best images to better treat their patients.
The case for investing in cardiac PET imaging, even during a pandemic