Philips launches tool for planning heart valve implantations

Philips has announced the launch of a new tool that will make it easier for clinicians to perform minimally invasive heart valve replacements.

The innovative HeartNavigator procedure planning and image guidance tool has received regulatory clearance in the US and has been commercially implemented for the first time at a hospital in Dallas.

It offers live image guidance to support the user in positioning a device, allowing doctors to simplify planning, device selection and projection angle selection, both before and during the procedure.

The new tool is integrated with Philips Allura Xper x-ray systems and could offer a range of advantages to hospitals that are increasingly embracing techniques such as transcatheter aortic valve implantation among high-risk patients.

Mike Hayden, sales director for imaging at Philips Healthcare in the UK and Ireland, said: "Philips is committed to expanding its offering in new and growing minimally invasive clinical applications such as structural heart repair and to maintaining our leadership position in interventional cardiology."

According to the company's most recent fiscal report, Philips experienced three percent growth for its healthcare products in the fourth quarter of 2011.