Ultrasound Progression in the Cardiology Field
Ultrasound has proven to be an effective tool for both invasive and non-invasive diagnosis of certain illnesses. For conditions involving the heart, a form of invasive diagnosis called intravascular imaging (IVI) is continuing to attract the attention of doctors who require some form of invasive cardiovascular procedure to be able to see their way into a patient's heart and blood vessels. In ultrasound language, this is referred to as intravascular ultrasound or IVUS. It 's been around since the early 1990s but little improvement in terms of image quality has been seen since then. Subsequently, alternatives to IVUS such as Optical Coherence Tomography and Near Infrared Spectroscopy have gained interest from cardiologists.
The IVI market segment is one of the quickest growing and the third biggest in terms of market share within the interventional cardiology market, with revenues at about $600 million in 2009. It is this market increase that is motivating Silicon Valley Medical Instruments (SVMI) to work on a high-definition IVUS to supply the demand for clearer high-resolution images from cardiologists. SVMI also hopes to integrate both systems and engineering on the new IVUS models. This combination will mean diminished manufacturing costs, and that means it can be offered at a lower price compared to older models in the market.
Ultrasound Transducer
