A £1.8 million investment in some of the latest imaging equipment and software is giving patients access to safer and more complex procedures.

The significantly upgraded interventional radiology suite (IRS) at Frimley Park Hospital allows a wider range of x-ray guided procedures to be carried with less risk and better outcomes.

Among the key advantages over the 14-year-old equipment it replaced are:

  • much lower doses of radiation, which is safer for patients and staff
  • patients need less contrast dye, thanks to much better image enhancement
  • bigger display screens to enable clinicians to use multiple imaging techniques to enhance understanding, safety and outcomes
  • the latest software with advantages such as advanced case planning, 3-dimensional imaging and layering , and lesion mapping.

The Philips equipment also includes the latest model of flex arm – one of only two in the country – that allows a wider range of imaging positions without the need to move the patient or disrupt equipment. Advanced screen options and software mean that images can be much better manipulated and optimised during each case.

This can all lead to more accurate diagnoses, less patient risk and better outcomes, and the potential for a wider range of image guided treatments, such as complex EVAR (endovascular aneurysm repair).

The new equipment has been proving its worth since it was installed in January in the hospital’s radiology department. It has already been used in the treatment of 350 patients in a range of procedures, including fibroid embolisations for women struggling with pressure symptoms, prostate artery embolisation for men with prostatic hypertrophy, lower limb angioplasty and arterial stenting, venous thrombectomy, fistulaplasties for patients receiving dialysis, and many more.

The room is also used to place feeding tubes, including long term tubes, for inserting drains in kidneys and gallbladders, and emergency embolisations of mesenteric, gastric and splenic arteries.

Consultant radiologist Dr Jeremy Taylor said:

“We are so pleased to be able to offer our patients the best possible care, with some of the latest available technology and minimally invasion treatments. It will ensure that interventional radiology remains at the forefront of medical advances at Frimley Heath.”