Royal Philips (NYSE:PHG) and BTG said today the 1st patient has been treated by a live-image guided LC Bead Lumi in a treatment aiming to block blood flow to a hypervascular tumor in a patient with liver cancer.
BTG’s LC Bead Lumis are embolic beads which can be visualized during interventional procedures to allow operating physicians to see, rather than assume, the location of the embolic beads while treating liver cancer.
“The aim with this new radiopaque embolic bead and visualization technology is to provide clinicians like me the ability to make real-time adjustments while conducting the embolization procedure, so that we can optimize patients’ treatment and hopefully improve targeting accuracy. It is reassuring for the clinician and the patient to know that the treatment was delivered exactly where it was aimed, and where it was needed. Treating the first patient using LC Bead LUMI in combination with dedicated Philips 2D X-ray and 3D CBCT image guidance is a milestone in our public-private partnership with both of our industry research partners. The imaging of the beads during this first procedure was exquisite and provided valuable information,” NIH Center for Interventional Oncology Dr. Bradford Wood said in a press release.
In December, BTG said it won FDA 510(k) clearance for its LC Bead Lumi radiopaque embolic beads designed for embolization of hypervascular tumors and arteriovenous malformations and touted results from the Renew study of its PneumRx endobronchial coil implant.
“BTG continues to advance its leadership in interventional medicine by actively listening to our customers and providing creative solutions to meet their clinical needs. Several years ago, we began scientific collaboration with Philips to evaluate the benefits of better image-guided therapy and this venture resulted in the ability to calibrate Philips’ imaging software to LC Bead LUMI. The clinical impact of the BTG-Philips collaboration is now helping interventional radiologists and multi-disciplinary teams make enhanced treatment decisions for patients with liver cancer,” BTG interventional oncology GM Peter Pattison said in prepared remarks.
“Minimally-invasive therapy procedures provide key benefits for healthcare systems and patients, and intelligent image guidance is an essential part of these procedures. We aim to continuously improve image guided therapy and our collaboration with BTG to provide enhanced visibility and guidance during interventional embolization procedures is another important milestone in this exciting journey to help deliver excellent treatment and enhanced patient care,” Philips image guided therapy biz leader Ronald Tabaksblat said in a prepared statement.