Royal Philips (NYSE:PHG) said it will work with a major hospital in the Netherlands on a new diagnostic imaging approach for spotting and treating restricted blood flow in feet due to diabetes.
Philips said it will team with Academic Medical Center in Amsterdam to test the technique as part of a European multi-center study. They want to develop technology that analyzes perfusion angiography images and also produces quantitative information on blood flow in the capillaries of the foot.
Perfusion angiography is a new X-ray imaging technology that relies on the high temporal and spatial resolution of X-ray angiographic images. Philips said it’s developed software that assesses subtle physiological changes in perfusion levels.
Researchers want to improve on the existing standard of care, which relies on image-guided, minimally invasive treatments including angioplasty to reopen major blood vessels in the feet to restore blood flow. The process involves live X-rays and the use of a catheter inserted into a blood vessel in the leg and navigated to the foot in order to use a balloon or stent to restore blood flow.
Philips said that imaging is lacking, however, because it doesn’t give clinicians a good look at micro-circulation function. The Dutch conglomerate said its new technology would allow for the more detailed imaging in order to better measure the problem and affects of treatment.
"As a new instrument for image-guided therapy, perfusion angiography could usher in a new age of precision personalized treatment for diabetic patients that suffer from severe foot complications," Ronald Tabaksblat, business leader of Philips’ image guided therapy systems division, said in prepared remarks.