Clearing up the control room: Siemens introduces a cockpit for intervention rooms

Several screens side by side, each with its own mouse and keyboard. Until now, this has been the norm in the control room of interventional suites, where medical technicians support doctors during procedures and have to rush back and forth between the screens. The new workplace from Siemens gives a much clearer overview, since the Artis zee Cockpit's 30-inch medical-grade monitor can display the content of up to six individual monitors. Images generated by the imaging system, video signals from the registration system and 3D images can now be viewed and processed using just the mouse and keyboard of the Artis zee Cockpit. This means that medical technicians no longer have to switch between workplaces, for example, when taking hemodynamic measurements, retrieving reference images from the database, evaluating intracardiac ECG data or reconstructing 3D images for the intervention.

Artis zee is the product family name of Siemens systems used for interventional radiology and cardiology as well as for surgery and electrophysiology. These systems are available in biplane, multi-axial, ceiling-mounted, floor-mounted, and multi-functional configurations, which means that they can be easily incorporated into any intervention room layout.

The Siemens Healthcare Sector is one of the world's largest suppliers to the healthcare industry and a trendsetter in medical imaging, laboratory diagnostics, medical information technology and hearing aids. Siemens offers its customers products and solutions for the entire range of patient care from a single source – from prevention and early detection to diagnosis, and on to treatment and aftercare. By optimizing clinical workflows for the most common diseases, Siemens also makes healthcare faster, better and more cost-effective. Siemens Healthcare employs some 48,000 employees worldwide and operates around the world. In fiscal year 2009 (to September 30), the Sector posted revenue of 11.9 billion euros and profit of around 1.5 billion euros.