First UK HELX Evolution ultrasound installed at The Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust

Published: 17-Jul-2014

North Manchester General Hospital and The Royal Oldham Hospital boost ultrasound capabilities

North Manchester General Hospital and The Royal Oldham Hospital, both part of The Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, have enhanced breast ultrasound delivery capabilities by becoming the first in the UK to install the newest iteration of Siemens Healthcare’s ACUSON S Family of ultrasound imaging systems.

With clinical technology evolving rapidly, this installation of Siemens’ ACUSON S1000 ultrasound systems with HELX Evolution functionality ensures the trust can easily upgrade its ultrasound systems for breast imaging with new technologies as they become available.

Designed with the rapidly-evolving imaging technology landscape in mind, the HELX Evolution is a sustainable, upgradable platform that enables clinicians to futureproof the delivery of key services to patients. Through its enhancement of the ACUSON S1000 system, HELX provides clinicians at both hospitals with a range of options for the future while also providing HD image quality and streamlined workflow.

“We looked extensively at a number of leading breast ultrasound systems on offer in the marketplace and found that the image quality offered by Siemens’ systems came out head and shoulders above the rest during this competitive tender process,” said Alison Darlington, consultant radiographer for breast imaging at North Manchester General Hospital and The Royal Oldham Hospital.

“The installation of both systems has been very smooth and we have received extensive support from Siemens throughout the process.”

A team of six consultant radiologists, a consultant radiographer and advanced practitioners operate across the two hospitals to deliver breast ultrasound services to patients, seeing between 20-60 patients a day. The HELX helps the team by enhancing the ACUSON S Family’s existing workflow capabilities with eSieScan Workflow Protocols, guiding clinicians through examinations step by step and activating relevant modes in the shortest time possible.

“The image quality offered by Siemens’ ACUSON S1000 ultrasound system is great and the multimodality review mode, that offers the ability to bring relevant MR images up on one screen at the same time when looking for something tiny in the breast, is a huge benefit to us,” said Darlington.

“The system’s MMR facility was a key factor for us during the selection process, with the hockey stick probe, in particular, making looking at the areola easier.”

Siemens’ HELX platform offers an ergonomically-designed control panel and adjustable monitor for heads-up, no-look operation of the system. Further helping to streamline workflow, the HELX also offers two redesigned women’s health transducers for enhanced patient comfort and improved clinician access. Powered by the new SieStream HD architecture, the HELX also boosts image quality with a large 21.5ins LCD monitor, HD transducers, contrast agent imaging technologies and powerful image processing.

“The HELX Evolution is a cost-effective solution that ensures that both image quality and operational efficiency meets clinical demands now and in the years to come,” said Richard Evans, regional sales manager at Siemens Healthcare.

“HELX has been designed to meet clinical demands today and into the future. We are pleased to deliver this functionality as a UK first to the dedicated ultrasound team operating across both North Manchester General Hospital and Royal Oldham Hospital.”

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