Biplane Imaging

The dual-purpose interventional lab at Spring Valley Hospital Medical Center was the first in southwest Las Vegas to offer biplane technology, the gold standard in interventional medical imaging technology.

Using two cameras that rotate around a patient and provide simultaneous front and side views of a patient's anatomy, biplane technology provides high-definition and CT-like imaging to produce real-time, 3-D images of blood vessels and soft tissue. It also requires fewer injections of contrast dye during procedures, which is beneficial for patients. The biplane imaging available at Spring Valley Hospital, which rivals the technology offered at top academic medical centers, helps physicians better predict, diagnose, inform and treat a variety of neurological disorders.

Biplane imaging is especially helpful during cerebral vascular angiography, an interventional radiology procedure used to take images of the blood vessels in the brain. The 3-D images produced with biplane can help locate blockages that cause ischemic stroke and identify aneurysms and arteriovenous malformations (a tangle of arteries and veins) that cause hemorrhagic stroke. They can also assist physicians with stent placement and guiding catheters through the brain. Biplane is also used during neuro coiling, a minimally invasive procedure that blocks blood flow to an aneurysm.

Biplane technology can also be used for:

• Stent placement and balloon angioplasties
• Blood vessel interventions
• 3-D imaging of bone to help detect osteoporosis or view fine fractures
• 3-D imaging of soft tissue to help see and treat uterine fibroids better
• 3-D imaging of the vascular system to locate blockages