Philips EchoNavigator

There is a trend from open surgical treatments to minimally invasive interventions, where the physician no longer sees the diseased organs, but dependents on imaging technologies.
In minimally invasive heart procedures, physicians typically use 3D ultrasound imaging to visualize the heart’s soft tissue, and live X-ray imaging to see the catheters and implants they’re working with. The two imaging modalities provide a very different perspective on the same scene.

Philips EchoNavigator combines 3D ultrasound with X-ray imaging such that the user can easily combine anatomical information provided by both imaging systems into a coherent view. This provides the user with a better understanding of the complex structures of the heart and its repair.

Besides this, it also helps the user to intuitively interact and navigate with catheters and implants in the heart, which makes such treatments more straightforward and easy to perform.

Cardiologists, multi-disciplinary teams of physicians, patients.
Ease-of-use is the key success factor for product use in the interventional suite.
The product is designed in close corporation with the end-users; cardiac surgeons and cardiologists in the United States and Europe.
Combining the Ultrasound & X-ray acquisition systems in one new imaging modality supports me as the interventional cardiologist in doing new advanced structural heart disease procedures.

Consumer need:

• Easy understand the complex structures of the heart.
• Intuitively interact and navigate with catheters and implants in the right position of the heart.
• Improve communication in the multi-disciplinary team of physicians who are together carrying out the interventional procedure.
• Control all relevant functionality from the patient table in the operating room.

Expected end –user reaction:

• Increasing the ease of performing complex procedures.
• Creating better outcomes for patients.
• Easy to use and easy to understand application.
• Confidence for the users in anatomy and device targeting, as well as in predictability of outcomes.

Philips EchoNavigator is the world-first- product that combines and presents the anatomical information of both echo and X-Ray imaging systems into an easy understandable coherent view.

It provides a seamless workflow for catheter and device navigation. Catheters and devices are visualized on the Xray images which are intuitively mapped with 3D echo imaging to show the soft tissue structures of the heart. Interactors (e.g. adding markers) used on one of the 2 image modalities are automatically synchronized and visible on both images.
It provides an excellent a user experience with a simplified navigation by offering only relevant functionality when needed; which enables the user to focus on the image.
It is one of the first systems that carry the new Philips Healthcare User Interface Identity which improves consistency over Philips Healthcare products, a professional look and feel, integrated user guidance and focusses on the clinical tasks.

User centered design and an iterative design process by working in close collaboration with users in partner hospitals in Europe and the United States.
The usability engineering process started in an early phase of the study.

1. Early mockups were tested with users and clinical experts. Their feedback was used to create the first clinical prototype.
2. The first clinical prototype was installed in the hospital and evaluated with users.
3. Based on user feedback iterations where made and tested in multiple hospitals with different users.
4. This process continued till the most optimal product was created. As a next step the clinical prototype was transferred to development where the final product was created, with the same specifications as the final prototype.