BB&T International Editor

VIENNA — To respond to the challenges presented by what it terms the "technically difficult" obese patient, Royal Philips Electronics (Eindhoven, the Netherlands) introduced the newest version in its HD family of products, the HD7, which features a new transducer capable of penetrating deeper into the body. "Big" obesity is no longer just a North American problem, but ironically, the new HD7 is not yet approved for use in the largest market for the "super-sized" obese in the U.S..

Jim Walchenbach, global market manager for ultrasound with Philips, told BB&T that obesity is a huge issue for ultrasound, as "you simply cannot get an image from these patients using conventional equipment." He said that among the challenges presented by the obese are bruises to patients and injuries to sonographers (and bruises and injuries to patients) resulting from the continual pushing of the probe into the patient's flesh to get close enough to the targeted organ for a precise image.

Injuries of clinical staff are significant enough that the problem was included as a criterion for measuring system effectiveness in a study of this type of patient, conducted by Philips at six sites, four in the U.S. and two in Europe. The study found clinics reporting from 25% to 50% of abdominal exams are for large patients who present challenges of longer exam times and resulting in less-definitive diagnosis.

There is always a trade-off in ultrasound between penetration and image quality, Walchenbach said, noting that the Philips C5-1 transducer, a term referring to its sending and receiving 5-to-1 megahertz signals from a curved array, balances the required penetration for oversized patients with quality resolution.

"The fact that we are going that deep and showing such high quality images is the reason this demonstration is drawing such crowds," he said, looking oward the semi-circle of radiologists blocking the exhibition hall aisles as they watched the real-time imaging going on at his company's booth.

Philips hired a world-champion sumo wrestler, weighing in at a hefty 374 pounds, for the hourly demonstrations. Wrapped in (thankfully) a blue silk robe rather than standard sumo attire, the wrestler alternated on the exam table with a slimmer model to show that the HD7 can be used for both "hefty" and slim.

The transducer is based on a pure-wave, single crystal, boosted with aberration correction and coded beam-forming technologies to capture and preserve more tissue information than conventional narrowband systems. The system provides both gray scale and color Doppler imaging and applies the tissue harmonic imaging licensed by Philips.

HD7 fits into the "affordable" slot in the Philips HD family of products between the higher-end HD11 and the lower-end HD3.

Philips said that HD7 targets just about any ultrasound application in cardiovascular, ob/gyn, regional anesthesiology, women's health, oncology, electrophysiology, stress-echo, pediatric, orthopedic and urologic.