Chinese hospital promotes heart disease treatment without radiation

BEIJING, Oct. 6 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese hospital specializing in cardiovascular care has widely applied a radiation-free percutaneous intervention method in its treatment of heart disease.

The treatment, introduced by Fuwai Hospital under the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences (CAMS), is guided by ultrasound images and involves sending the treatment instruments from the peripheral blood into the heart in a minimally invasive manner.

This method avoids the use of surgery and radiation, and even allows patients to remain awake during the treatment process.

Pregnant women, allergy sufferers and cancer patients can also receive this treatment, and the technical difficulty has been reduced as expensive imported large devices are not required, according to the hospital.

This procedure is expected to enhance the capacity of primary medical services and make effective heart disease treatment available to outpatients. Therefore, access to heart disease treatment in countries and regions with limited medical resources will be improved.

This form of heart treatment has received funding from the United Nations.

Thus far, Fuwai Hospital has invented more than 17 new treatments to deal with different types of cardiovascular diseases such as congenital heart disease, valvular disease and arrhythmia -- achieving 65 patents.

In addition, the hospital has also developed a series of therapeutic instruments and equipment, including an ultrasonic catheter and a surgical robot. Of these items, 23 are available both in China and abroad.

Medical teams from the hospital have been invited to conduct surgeries and introduce Chinese treatment solutions in more than 30 countries, including France, Germany, Canada, Russia and Kenya.