Sony plans to release a new, more user-friendly workflow version of its modality-neutral NUCLeUS™ medical imaging platform, pending FDA 510(k) clearance. The next generation platform is intended to offer hospitals a streamlined digital imaging workflow and create valuable efficiency improvements, in addition to supporting 4K resolution. It is also designed to easily route and deliver key information, such as video, audio and other pertinent clinical data, wherever and whenever it is needed across the hospital campus.

With simple and secure access from anywhere over a hospital’s IP network, professionals will be able to capture and manage video and audio content in near real-time for centralized storage and access through NUCLeUS, offering new workflows and operational efficiencies.

NUCLeUS will offer hospitals a host of revolutionary benefits, from enhanced training and education tools to cost-effective networked medical image content management. It is designed to streamline the workflow in operating rooms and laboratory facilities by providing fast access to relevant imaging data via an easy-to-use central dashboard. It is also intended to provide users with a virtually real-time transmission function to help clinicians and management teams make more informed decisions.

At Sony, we are experts in 4K and IP technology in the broadcast and production realm, and it is a natural evolution for these technologies to provide the same benefits and efficiencies to the healthcare space,” said Theresa Alesso, pro division president, Sony Electronics. “With the next generation of the NUCLeUS platform, Sony will offer a modality-neutral, digital solution that will efficiently address the demands of O.R. managers and integrators. As connected devices gain a foothold in hospitals, clinicians will gain new capabilities to centrally collect, store and distribute medical imaging files across a hospital network, enabling more effective and informed patient care.

Working off a flexible, software-based environment, NUCLeUS showcases Sony’s continued investment in the healthcare industry with this introduction of a new NUCLeUS smart application designed to utilize existing hospital network infrastructures.

Highlights of the design features of the next generation NUCLeUS platform include:

Workflow-orientated features for clinicians

• Ability to handle multi-format, multi-standard and resolution up to 4K
• Enhanced streaming and recording of high-quality audio and video, powered by advanced video switching and routing capabilities
• Improved image routing and viewing options, enabling smoother imaging workflows through all phases of a surgical intervention, from the planning stage to post-operative patient reviews
• Updated education and teaching broadcasting capabilities by using virtually real-time communication tools such as smarter annotation features
• Workflow enhancement through NUCLeUS smart applications such as rotation correction

IT-oriented features

• Fully scalable solution that can be easily extended to other rooms or hospital buildings at any time
• Provides IT managers with a secure and encrypted way of remote and preventive solution maintenance, including self-monitoring capabilities

Integration-oriented features

• Modality-neutral, software-driven platform supports routing images from many different manufacturers
• Greater support for third-party applications via business APIs and a variety of mechanisms and tools
• Secure HIS integration and fully HL7/DICOM compatible

Customers outside of the United States that have deployed Sony’s current NUCLeUS imaging platform in a move to create enhanced surgical imaging workflows and optimize their operations include:

• University Hospitals Leuven (UZ Leuven), one of Belgium’s leading teaching hospitals with almost 2,000 patient beds and more than 9,000 employees, uses the NUCLeUS platform to perform thousands of surgical interventions every year across 34 of its digital operating rooms
• Karolinska University Hospital in Sweden chose the NUCLeUS platform as its standard video-over-IP platform; 31 NUCLeUS systems were installed to manage video-based workflows inside the operating rooms and also outside connection to auditoriums and lecture rooms, as well as remote advisory through telestration

Sony is committed to helping healthcare organizations streamline their imaging workflows, so that clinical staff can provide the best professional offerings. The NUCLeUS imaging platform is an innovative system for medical imaging that is designed to contribute to operational efficiency and quality improvements and to provide tools for better informed clinical decisions.

This next generation is the result of Sony’s acquisition in 2016 of eSATURNUS, a Belgium-based company that provides leading clinical video-over-IP solutions for the medical field. This expertise, combined with Sony’s leading imaging and AV/IT technologies, has led to the continual investment and development of the NUCLeUS imaging platform.

The next generation NUCLeUS platform is planned to be available in the U.S. in December 2019, pending FDA 510(k) clearance. For more information, please visit pro.sony/medical.

About Sony Electronics Inc.
Sony Electronics is a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America and an affiliate of Sony Corporation (Japan), one of the most comprehensive entertainment companies in the world, with a portfolio that encompasses electronics, music, motion pictures, mobile, gaming, robotics and financial services. Headquartered in San Diego, California, Sony Electronics is a leader in electronics for the consumer and professional markets. Operations include research and development, engineering, sales, marketing, distribution and customer service. Sony Electronics creates products that innovate and inspire generations, such as the award-winning Alpha Interchangeable Lens Cameras and revolutionary high-resolution audio products. Sony is also a leading manufacturer of end-to-end solutions from 4K professional broadcast and A/V equipment to industry leading 4K and 8K Ultra HD TVs. Visit http://www.sony.com/news for more information.

At ESC Congress 2019 together with the World Congress of Cardiology, the World Heart Federation launched a new “roadmap” aimed at reducing the global burden of CVD in people living with diabetes. The Roadmap on the prevention of cardiovascular disease among people living with diabetes is a key reference document for anyone involved in the planning, organisation, implementation and monitoring & evaluation of approaches related to CVD prevention in people living with diabetes. It outlines a vision of an ideal pathway of care, potential roadblocks along this pathway, and proposed solutions, with examples from practice.

Rapid urbanization, unhealthy diets and increasingly sedentary lifestyles have resulted in fast-growing rates of obesity and diabetes, with an estimated 425 million people currently living with diabetes worldwide – around 90 percent have type 2 diabetes. Alarmingly, the situation is set to deteriorate further in the coming decades, with the total number of people with diabetes predicted to increase to over 600 million by 2045. It has been estimated that globally, up to 50 percent of people with diabetes are unaware of their disease.

While diabetes is treatable, even when glucose levels are under control it greatly increases the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) – people with diabetes are 2 to 3 times more likely to have increased risk of coronary artery disease, stroke, myocardial infarction and angina pectoris compared to those without diabetes. Prevention of CVD in people with diabetes is a necessity and preventive strategies predominantly focus on lifestyle management and risk factor interventions.

Professor Karen Sliwa, President of the World Heart Federation (WHF), said “Diabetes and its related CVD complications are a huge global issue. All over the world, due to limited resources, countries are struggling to provide the necessary preventive or medical care, with a disproportionate burden falling on low-and middle-income countries. Given the worldwide impact of the epidemic of CVD and diabetes, we decided to take action to address it globally through this new roadmap on the prevention of CVD among people living with diabetes.”

Developed in partnership with the International Diabetes Federation (IDF), the Roadmap draws on the expertise of diabetes expert clinicians, researchers, implementation science experts and patients from around the world, and presents an integrated approach to patient care, involving the patient perspective, healthcare system perspective and health policy perspective.

Laurence Sperling, Chair of the CVD and Diabetes Roadmap Writing Group explains, “We have identified important gaps in the care of people living with diabetes who are a high cardiovascular risk, and focused on priorities and key action areas to close these gaps. We also provide an ‘implementation toolkit’ for successful translation of the Roadmap to national and local initiatives, aiming to ensure that as many people living with diabetes as possible receive optimal preventive care and treatment.”

“In order to be implemented successfully, the CVD and Diabetes Roadmap requires committed global action. Today, the Roadmap will be launched at the largest cardiovascular congress in the world, which represents the perfect forum to raise awareness of this impactful global epidemic. Our goal is to demonstrate how utilization of this roadmap can help a broad base of stakeholders begin to tackle the problem and make a longstanding difference.”

The WHF Global Roadmap on the prevention of CVD among people living with diabetes was launched at ESC Congress 2019 together with the World Congress of Cardiology in a session entitled ‘Heart failure and diabetes: what is on the horizon’ on Monday 2 September 2019, 11:00 – 12:30 CEST. WHF would like to thank Boehringer-Ingelheim, Eli Lilly and Company, Novo Nordisk, Regeneron and Sanofi for their financial support.

The WHF Global Roadmap on Heart Failure will also be launched at ESC Congress 2019 together with the World Congress of Cardiology in a session entitled ‘Expert Advice – Optimising the organisation of heart failure care,’ on Monday 2 September 2019, 16:40 – 17:50 CEST.WHF would like to thank Novartis for their financial support.

The Roadmapswill be published in open-access in the WHF journal,Global Heart. These two new documentsadd to existing Roadmaps on secondaryprevention of CVD, raised blood pressure, tobacco control, cholesterol, rheumatic heart disease and non-valvular atrial fibrillation.Further details can be found at: www.cvdroadmaps.org.

About the World Heart Federation (WHF)
The World Heart Federation is dedicated to leading the global fight against CVD, including heart disease and stroke. We are the only global advocacy and leadership organization bringing together the entire CVD community to drive the CVD agenda and help people live longer, better, more heart-healthy lives. We and our Members – more than 200 organizations, scientific societies, foundations and patient associations in over 100 countries – believe in a world where heart health for everyone is a fundamental human right and a crucial element of global health justice. Because every heartbeat matters.

For more information on WHF, please visit: www.worldheartfederation.org

About WHF Global Roadmaps
In 2014, the World Heart Federation launched an initiative to develop a series of Global Roadmaps, with the aim to identify potential roadblocks on the pathway to effective prevention, detection and management of CVD, along with evidence-based solutions to overcome them. The resulting documents provide a framework to translate strategic intent into action on integrating epidemiology, population and cardiovascular outcome trial data into national plans for optimal CVD management.

The Roadmap publications have become the cornerstone of WHF activities as resources for implementation to guide initiatives to support heart health globally, translating science into policy and influencing agencies, governments and policymakers alike.

With this framework, countries can develop or update national NCD programmes aligned with the WHF Global Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of NCDs 2013-2020. The overall aim is to drive efforts within national agendas to meet the ambitious target set out in the UN Sustainable Development Goals: a 30% reduction in premature mortality caused by NCDs, including CVD, by 2030.

True Diagnostics, Inc , a leading company for Point of Care (POC) answers, and Veravas, an emerging diagnostic company focusing on proprietary sample preparation products and new diagnostic tests, announced their Strategic Alliance in the commercialization of VeraTest Biotin, a portable and easy-to-use digital qualitative test that can rapidly screen patient samples to determine if significant biotin is present, helping safeguard against potential biotin interference. The collaboration, recently announced at the 71st Annual American Association for Clinical Chemistry (AACC) meeting in Anaheim, California, focuses on improving the accuracy of current diagnostic test results to ensure proper diagnosis, treatment and patient care management

Biotin, or B7, has become an everyday supplement for many people. It’s found in over the counter (OTC) multivitamins, prenatal vitamins, and dietary supplements for hair, skin, and nail growth, however, the use of high-dose biotin supplements has been found to skew results in some diagnostic tests. Today, 59% of immunoassay diagnostic tests on the market are using biotin in their assay design. As a result, in 2017, the FDA issued a safety communication alerting that biotin can significantly interfere with certain lab tests and cause incorrect test results which may go undetected. In 2019, the FDA also issued guidance to IVD manufacturers regarding testing for biotin interference to address incorrect test results.

True and Veravas have partnered to develop a simple and immediate solution that screens for biotin interference. This new test leverages components from the TrueDX Reader Platform that was previously FDA cleared for a separate indication earlier this year. VeraTest provides a qualitative yes or no answer to determine if biotin levels are above 15 ng/ml – levels which may impact patient test results. With True’s manufacturing capabilities, proprietary screening assay platform and technology, in addition to Veravas’ nano magnetic particle technology that can remove and confirm the clinical significance of interferences, customers now have a way to detect and manage biotin interference while IVD companies work to update their assays.

“The number of people taking biotin for health and cosmetic reasons is becoming more prevalent each year, so we’re excited to announce this collaboration with Veravas to bring a product like VeraTest to market,” stated Jerry Lee, CEO and President of True Diagnostics. “Veravas is quickly emerging as the leader in raising the standard of care in laboratory medicine and we look forward to co-developing tools that are essential to support the IVD market and improving the lives of so many patients.”

“The issue of biotin interference has been discussed in the industry for years, so we’re excited to be first to market with a ready-to-use solution. Our collaboration with True utilizing their device technology has resulted in a test that’s easy to use and displays patient results in five minutes. Speed is critical in settings such as emergency departments, where a diagnostic answer is needed urgently to ensure proper diagnosis and treatment,” said Carroll E. Streetman Jr., Chief Executive Officer of Veravas. “We are confident that the combined technology of our two companies will assist healthcare providers and laboratory users to tackle biotin interference for improved test results.”

True and Veravas continue to collaborate and expand their portfolios with other emerging organizations and institutions to bring diagnostic solutions and products like VeraTest to market.

About True Diagnostics
True Diagnostics (True) designs and develops innovative POC diagnostic tests and devices based on its proprietary TrueDX™ Platform, which utilizes reliable and low-cost lab methods and its own proprietary or partnered biomarkers to offer rapid diagnoses to facilitate treatment decisions in point-of-care, point-of-incidence and remote-of-care settings. The TrueDX Platform’s portability and affordability allow it to be easily adopted into emerging markets to provide accurate diagnosis within minutes. For the $21 billion point-of-care market, the power of the TrueDX Platform lies in its simplicity and flexibility. Tests have an 18-month or longer shelf life with no refrigeration required. The platform’s flexible design additionally permits it to quickly commercialize a myriad of biomarkers discovered for cancer, autism, Alzheimer’s, diabetes, drugs of abuse, infectious diseases, cardiac health, traumatic brain injury, viral and bacterial infections and more.

About Veravas
‍Veravas is transforming laboratory medicine with technology that delivers superior test results, providing confidence to clinicians and patients that diagnoses are accurate. The company is rapidly driving the commercialization of proprietary sample preparation products and new diagnostic tests. Veravas’ nano magnetic particles can identify, remove, and measure select substances from patient samples to reduce the effects of complex interferences and detect low-abundance biomarkers. Led by a passionate and dedicated team, Veravas is devoted to improving patient lives by minimizing the harmful effects of unnecessary treatments and deaths associated with poor quality diagnostic results. Because every patient deserves the correct result, every time. To learn more about our technologies and clinical applications, visit veravas.com.

Royal Philips, a global leader in health technology, is showcasing its latest cardiac care innovations at the ESC Congress 2019. At the congress, Philips is showcasing Release 5.0 of its EPIQ CVx cardiology platform for the first time in Europe. The platform includes automated applications for 2D assessment of the heart, as well as robust 3D right ventricle volume and ejection fraction measurements, making accurate exams faster and easier to conduct [1]. Philips also announced that it is collaborating with digital health company LindaCare to combine the company’s innovative OnePulse™ cloud-based solution for the remote monitoring of patients with cardiac implantable electronic devices (CIEDs) with the Philips IntelliSpace Cardiovascular informatics platform.

“Monitoring and follow-up of cardiac arrhythmia patients with CIEDs can be often complex, with data trapped in different silos that need to be reviewed individually,” said Calum Cunningham, Business Leader for Enterprise Diagnostic Informatics at Philips. “LindaCare’s innovative OnePulse solution consolidates this data, and by incorporating OnePulse into our IntelliSpace Cardiovascular platform, caregivers can see this additional information as part of the broader cardiovascular history of each patient, allowing them to make the most appropriate treatment decisions for each patient.”

By incorporating OnePulse into our IntelliSpace Cardiovascular platform, caregivers can see this additional information as part of the broader cardiovascular history of each patient, allowing them to make the most appropriate treatment decisions for each patient.

Philips IntelliSpace Cardiovascular is a web-based image and workflow management platform which streamlines the workflow of cardiology departments and across hospitals by consolidating multi-modality images and data and enabling access to an open ecosystem of cardiovascular software applications.

The seamless combination of IntelliSpace Cardiovascular with LindaCare’s OnePulse solution allows clinicians to more easily access data from their patients’ CIEDs remotely. This results in a more seamless overall workflow, including alert management and triaging, supporting more proactive care. Philips is also introducing a new module on IntelliSpace Cardiovascular which complements the remote monitoring workflow by automating, standardizing and streamlining reporting for patients with CIEDs during hospital visits. Both the OnePulse interface and the new module will be available on the platform later this year. Since 2018, Philips has owned a minority interest in LindaCare through Philips Health Technology Ventures, which manages a business-agnostic digital health fund investing capital in future partners to help drive Philips’ digital transformation and jointly achieve the Quadruple Aim in healthcare.

Increasing diagnostic confidence with the EPIQ CVx cardiology ultrasound platform

At the ESC Congress 2019 Philips is also highlighting the new advanced automation capabilities available on the EPIQ CVx cardiology ultrasound platform. By incorporating advanced automation, there is less variability between scans, leading to confident treatment decisions which benefits patients. The new release of EPIQ CVx is a major step forward, reducing the number of touches of the system by 21% in each exam, which is equivalent to more than 400 exams each year [2].

The AutoStrain LV application uses advanced Automatic View Recognition technology to identify the different views of the heart, providing exceptional visualization and analysis of left ventricular function – extremely important diagnostic information for patients at risk of developing cardiovascular disease. Also new are the AutoStrain LA and AutoStrain RV applications, which automate the measurement of left atrial and right ventricular longitudinal strain respectively. By creating reliable and reproducible strain measurements for the left ventricle, left atrium and right ventricle, the AutoStrain LV, LA and RV applications support clinicians treating patients with atrial fibrillation, arrhythmia and other complex heart conditions.
Enabling value-based cardiac care

With the shift to value-based care, healthcare providers are increasingly focused on balancing the need to provide the highest quality care with managing their operational costs. Philips provides intelligent solutions that help clinicians to be more efficient and effective, enabling them to deliver a consistent standard of care, optimize care pathways, simplify workflows and drive better treatment outcomes.

The ESC Congress 2019 will take place at the Paris Expo Porte de Versailles, France. Visit Philips at Stand #590. During the event, Philips will host a Satellite Symposium on Ultrasound featuring leading worldwide experts. For more information about the symposium and other events, as well as general information about Philips’ presence at the show, visit www.philips.com/esc.