Cios Alpha gives vascular surgeons a helping arm

Posted on 6 October 2015

An exciting new piece of equipment is giving surgeons at Mediclinic Milnerton a helping hand (or arm!) in their vascular procedures. The new Cios Alpha is the first machine of its kind to operate in South Africa, and it gives surgeons the opportunity to perform complex procedures with confidence and control – and without having to depend on a cath lab.

Cath (or catherisation) labs are examination rooms with diagnostic imaging equipment, which visualises the arteries and chambers of the heart, and helps to treat any abnormalities. Mediclinic Milnerton doesn’t have a cath lab – and, now that it has the Cios Alpha, it doesn’t need one. The Cios offers a versatile imaging alternative, and can even be used during open surgery as part of a hybrid vascular procedure. ‘The Cios Alpha, the first of its kind in South Africa, goes hand in hand with Mediclinic’s dedication to expert care as leaders in the private medical sector in South Africa,’ says Alvina Simpson, hospital manager at Mediclinic Milnerton. ‘The acquisition of this clinical engineering feat demonstrates Mediclinic Milnerton’s commitment in providing the latest healthcare solutions for its community of patients and doctors.’

The Cios Alpha offers a range of applications. Its cutting-edge technology (more on that later) makes it a powerful tool for vascular interventions like aneurysms and occlusive arterial disease by means of endovascular repair and placement arterial stents. Using this tool, the vascular surgeon can mark anatomical structures that are visible in subtracted images. The graphical overlay remains in subsequent fluoroscenes, providing better orientation while placing stent grafts. The Cios Alpha also has a Retina Imaging Chain, which optimally transforms X-rays and provides the surgeon with optimised images, providing an improved level of understanding of what lies at the heart of the patient’s vascular intervention needs.

Now while doctors will know exactly what all of that means, patients might not. So here’s a quick explanation. Machines like the Cios Alpha are called C-arms – and if you’ve ever walked up to one, you’ll see why: it’s curved, like the letter C. If you’re the patient, your body goes into that gap in the open part of the C. The machine then provides X-ray scans of your body, allowing the surgeon to see what’s happening in real time.

What makes the Cios Alpha unique, though, is that it has a motorised, laser-guided X-ray machine that offers reduced X-ray exposure and radiation risk to the patient. This leads to shorter operating times, and earlier post-operative recovery and discharge from hospital. ‘We will be able to offer a wider range of vascular procedures with minimised risk of complications and reduced length of hospital stay,’ says Dr Kris Michalowski, vascular surgeon at Mediclinic Milnerton. ‘The new C-arm facility will significantly improve the quality of imaging for endovascular interventions.’

The Cios Alpha also allows for complex and prolonged vascular interventions to continue without interruption, because its advanced cooling system lets it work for longer periods – and that enables the doctors to safely operate on more complicated cases.

There’s an age-old rule of medicine that goes: ‘Anything that helps the doctor is good for the patient.’ From the surgeon’s point of view, the Cios Alpha is very helpful indeed – as Dr Pieter Zwanepoel, general and vascular surgeon at Mediclinic Milnerton, explains. ‘The Cios Alpha is an innovative, state-of-the–art X-ray capturing machine, which allows vascular surgeons to obtain optimal imaging and clinical information regarding a patient’s vascular pathology,’ he says. ‘This translates into advanced decision-making, and optimal patient care and improved clinical outcomes.’

The information provided in this article was correct at the time of publishing. At Mediclinic we endeavour to provide our patients and readers with accurate and reliable information, which is why we continually review and update our content. However, due to the dynamic nature of clinical information and medicine, some information may from time to time become outdated prior to revision.