Giving Accurate Diagnosis, Treatment Through Innovative Equipmen

The recent innovations by Philips Healthcare for prompt, timely and less cumbersome diagnosis and treatment of cardiology, oncology and neurology issues, have brought to the fore a new vista of healthcare delivery in Nigeria. Writes Martins Ifijeh

While the use of medical technology equipments account for about 7.5 per cent of all healthcare expenditure by most countries on the average, the need for developing countries, including Nigeria to step up budgeting and funding for innovative healthcare delivery have taken the front burner in other to provide better healthcare for Nigerians, as well as discourage medical tourism.

However, experts in the industry believed if the Nigerian government and stakeholders in the healthcare industry must curb medical tourism and improve healthcare for the citizens, irrespective of the specialty of care, new innovations in medical technology must be embraced to achieve this

It is in a bid to making this happen that Philips Healthcare has introduced new innovative medical and lifestyle equipments for easy diagnosis and treatment of oncology, neurology, cardiology and women’s health technology solutions.

Showcasing the innovations for healthy living, disease prevention, diagnosis and treatment during the Medic West Africa Exhibition 2016, the Business Development Manager, Philips Healthcare, Dr. George Uduku said the equipment company was leveraging on its deep clinical expertise, data management, consumer insights, as well as partnerships to help shape the future of healthcare in West Africa, and in particular Nigeria.

The new low cost innovations, according to him were the intelliSpace portal, CX50 CompactXtreme, CombiDiagnost and the V680 Critical Care Ventilator, which he said were full range solutions in cardiology, oncology and women’s health. “The aim of introducing the healthcare equipments is to provide more predictive and more personalised care to enable people take charge of their own health, as well as first time right diagnoses and more effective treatments.

“The new innovations will help healthcare providers better make precise and timely diagnosis, treatment and make treatment process more friendly to patients, as these were the cases in advanced climes where Nigerians run to for treatment,” he noted.

The Respironics V680, according to him was a clinically advanced facility that provide patients with high-performance ventilation across the continuum of care. “It includes a number of advanced technologies designed to simplify use, support uninterrupted invasive or noninvasive ventilation, and help reduce the incidence of unwanted pressure spikes,” adding that with the V680, advanced NIV technology was a primary focus weighted equally with Philips’ invasive solutions.

He said unlike other systems that stop ventilating during expiratory limb occlusion or flow sensor failure, the V680 switches to emergency Ventilation Mode, and sounds a high-priority alarm. “In this mode, the same oxygen and ventilation settings are maintained through the inspiratory limb, buying critical seconds or minutes for the patient until help arrives,” he added.

Some of the benefits of the innovation, according to him, includes high performance without the high cost. “With the V680, one ventilator does it all, providing high performance ventilation in invasive and noninvasive modes at a fraction of the cost of two separate systems, lowering capital expenses.

”Another benefit is that it accelerates workflow and enhance patient care. It bridges the gap between dedicated NIV and critical care life support. It is also very easy to maintain and cant be learnt fast, as it is also easy to use.”.

On his part, Philips Group Communication Head for Africa, Radhika Choksey, said the CX50 CompactXtreme Portable Ultrasound System has been brought into the Nigerian market to address the need for premium class performance in a compact ultrasound system.

He said the technology was designed to make portable examination easy and efficient. “With a single button, iSCAN technology automatically samples data for quick optimization for 2D and Doppler performance. To increase efficiency and diagnostic confidence, the CX50 incorporates the latest 3 D freehand acquisition to enable advanced volume workflow studies.

‘It stores active native acoustic data giving you the ability to adjust virtually all scanning parameters on single images, clips or stored 2D and Doppler data. Images can be readjusted during or after the exam, enhancing diagnostic details, allowing for shorter exam times, and reducing the need for repeat studies.”

According to him, it does not only reduce examination time by up 50 per cent with SmartExam, but was also environment friendly, among other benefits.

He said the Philips IntelliSpace cardiovascular was a web-enabled image and information management system with a single integrated workspace that produces a holistic view of the patient’s care continuum, adding that it was one of the most comprehensive solutions for problem detection, diagnostics, and therapy follow up, offering a full suite of tools to increase accuracy of quantitative measurements an reproducibility, decision support tools to boost diagnostics confidence.

He therefore called on stakeholders in the health sector as well as the Nigerian government to take advantage of the innovations, as they would greatly help in better treatment and diagnosis, adding that, with the innovations in most health facilities in the country, patients will be confident of accessing treatment within the country rather than seeking medical tourism abroad.