Ascension Technology Corporation

Business Article Features Ascension, Impact of Sensors in Medical Market

ascension-technology — Thu, 03 May 2012 18:06:56 +0000

A recent article in the Burlington Free Press tells the story of Ascension – from our early days in the military arena to our recent growth in the medical equipment market with the rise of minimally invasive surgery. Reporter Dan D’Ambrosio describes our work to create ever smaller, miniaturized sensors that can fit at the tip of a biopsy needle, providing advanced imaging and tracking capabilities that previously weren’t possible. The article illustrates the benefits of this technology for medical applications — and the tremendous growth potential in the market over the coming decade. Read the article here and tell us what you think!

Are 3D Guidance trackers compatible with legacy (older model) Ascension trackers?

ascension-technology — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 14:29:29 +0000

Yes, 3D Guidance trackers are drop-in replacements for many Ascension magnetic trackers that you once used.
trakSTAR is fully compatible with Ascension magnetic trackers that use RS-232 and USB interfaces. trakSTAR supports Flock of Birds, miniBIRD and all other Ascension magnetic tracker using the RS-232 Interface, running winBIRD, CBIRD, SBIRD and SOCKET programs, and employing Windows drivers.
3D Guidance (older model), microBIRD, and pciBIRD users can substitute new USB and DLL (drivers) and continue to use old applications.

Report Highlights Ascension’s Role in Growing Computer Assisted Surgical (CAS) Systems Market

ascension-technology — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 14:20:01 +0000

A new report from Global Industry Analysts, Inc. features Ascension Technology Corporation as one of several key players in the growing Computer Assisted Surgical (CAS) Systems market. (Global Computer Assisted Surgical (CAS) Systems Market to Reach US $2.9 Billion by 2017)

The market report analyzes world-wide markets for CAS systems including surgical planners and simulators, surgical navigation systems and surgical robots. It discusses products and innovations from Ascension, along with other companies.

In its press release on the report, Global Industry Analysts highlights the importance of CAS surgical technologies such as robotic surgery and virtual reality, and the emergence of CAS technologies as an industry standard. “Computers with several microprocessor enabled surgical equipment and instruments offer assistance and enable surgeons to perform critical procedures with more ease and with high levels of accuracy and safety,” the release states.

Ascension OEM, VentriPoint, Installs Cardiac Monitoring Systems At Leading European Hospitals

ascension-technology — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 15:58:14 +0000

VentriPoint Diagnostics Ltd.(www.ventripoint.com) has installed its VMS^TM heart analysis system at Evelina Children’s Hospital, which is part of Guy’s and St. Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust in London, UK, and at Erasmus MC SOPHIA Children Hospital in Rotterdam, The Netherlands .

“VMS is non-invasive and repeatable as compared to MRI, and we are confident in the results using routine clinical scanning”, stated Dr. John Simpson, Director of the Echocardiography Laboratory at Evelina. “At Evelina, all children undergoing MRI must have a general anesthetic. This is not required for the VMS and is a major improvement as we will not have to subject these children to the added complexity and risk of a general anesthetic.”

At SOPHIA, the VMS system will be introduced into routine clinical use for Tetrology of Fallot (Blue Baby Syndrome) or Systemic Right Ventricle patients, under the supervision of Dr. Willem Helbing and Dr. Laurens Koopman.

The VMS procedure utilizes standard 2D ultrasound — with Ascension magnetic tracking of ultrasound scan planes — to acquire routine heart images for monitoring heart function in congenital heart disease.

Published and “in-press” clinical studies have shown that VMS results are the same as MRI results, but take less time and do not require anesthesia. The patient needs to remain still for only 5 minutes as compared to 60 minutes for a MRI procedure.

For more information about the VentriPoint and Ascension collaboration, see our media release PDF

Ascension to Exhibit at SIR 2012

ascension-technology — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 16:33:02 +0000

Ascension will be showing its latest advances in 3D navigation and localization of medical instruments — including guidewires — at the annual Society of Interventional Radiology (SIR) Conference in San Francisco, March 25-28, 2012.

For more information about SIR, visit SIR 2012

If you would like to arrange a visit with Ascension reps at SIR, contact Trish Scott, tscott@ascension-tech.com

Milton Company’s President Joins Dignitaries in Dedicating Time Capsule

ascension-technology — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 20:47:55 +0000

Ascension President Ernie Blood (fourth from left) joins Burlington Mayor Bob Kiss, John Tracy, state director for U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy, and other dignitaries in dedicating the Champlain 400 Time Capsule at the Burlington Waterfront February 3, 2012. The capsule, to be opened in the year 2106, contains mementos from the 2009 Lake Champlain Quadricentennial Celebration, as well as contributions from many Vermont businesses and artists. Included is a one-page document from Ascension, describing the company’s history and highlighting the impact its magnetic sensors have had on minimally invasive surgery in the 21st Century.

Ascension President Ernie Blood with Nancy Bove, special events coordinator for the Burlington Parks and Recreation Department who coordinated the time capsule project.

Ascension Technology is one of several companies and organizations who sponsored the time capsule monument.

Announcing a Dedication Ceremony for the Quadricentennial Time Capsule

ascension-technology — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 20:03:18 +0000

Ascension Technology Corporation is sponsoring the Champlain 400 Time Capsule. The Dedication Ceremony will take place at 1:00 pm on February 3, 2012, in the atrium at the Main Street Landing Performing Arts Center, 60 Lake Street, Burlington, VT 05401. Please read our Media Release: Champlain 400 Time Capsule

Ascension Trackers Enable New Ultrasound Procedures at Large Medical Trade Show.

ascension-technology — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 16:02:53 +0000

Ascension partnered with ultrasound equipment manufacturers, Siemens and Ultrasonix, in its booth at the recent Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) annual conference in Chicago. With over 40,000 physicians and medical professionals in attendance, it proved to be one of the largest venues ever for Ascension’s 3D navigation, guidance, and localization devices.

Here is a short video highlighting Ascension’s presence at RSNA 2011 along with an overview of Ultrasonix’s new SonixTablet GPS system for “point-of-care “interventional procedures. Ascension and Ultrasonix at RSNA 2011.

How are magnetic trackers used in medicine?

ascension-technology — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 20:38:55 +0000

Ascension trackers measure the position (X, Y, Z) and orientation (Yaw, Pitch and/or Roll) of one or more miniaturized sensors in 3D space. These measurements track the real-time motion of medical instruments and devices for localization, navigation and targeting purposes.

3D magnetic tracking has come of age for image-guided medical procedures. In ultrasound diagnostic and interventional procedures, an Ascension 3D sensor is attached to (or inserted within) an ultrasound probe for freehand data acquisition while a second sub-millimeter sensor is inserted in the tip of a medical instrument, such as a biopsy needle or an ablation probe. Knowing the absolute location of each instrument enables physicians to “see through the skin” for volumetric measurements, fusion of ultrasound with pre-acquired CT, PET, MR images, and percutaneous biopsy/ablation of lesions.

Here’s a YouTube video that shows how sensors are used in conjunction with ultrasound imaging to improve common medical procedures: Biopsy Needle Guidance

Magnetic Tracking Now In Its Third Generation

ascension-technology — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 19:38:55 +0000

Today there are several generations of trackers on the market. These range from 1st generation AC electromagnetic technology, first patented by Polhemus Inc. in the 1970s, and later improved by Polhemus and medical device companies, including Biosense, GE, Medtronic, MediGuide, NDI, and SuperDimension; 2nd generation trackers patented by Ascension in the 1990s that employ pulsed DC magnetic technology; and now 3rd generation DC magnetic technology, also patented by Ascension. 3D Guidance technology offers the latest improvements and innovations in magnetic tracking technology.

First generation AC trackers are susceptible to distorted measurements in the presence of common metals, such as carbon steel, aluminum, and even stainless steel.

Second generation DC trackers exhibit 1/5 the sensitivity to non-magnetic conductive metal as their earlier counterparts. As a result, their sensors were often attached to ultrasound probes, titanium instruments, and non-magnetic stainless steel objects without discernable loss of accuracy. However, these sensors contained fluxgates that limited sensor size to 5 mm in diameter, were subject to ferrous metal distortion, and were too complex to achieve truly low cost.

Third generation DC magnetic tracking represents the state-of-the-art in real-time tracking. It includes six degrees-of-freedom sensors as small as 0.55 mm in diameter, low cost disposable sensor, special transmitters that block distortions emanating below the tracking volume, and advanced processing and calibration techniques for robust performance in all kinds of environments.