Rheumascan® procedure
Rheumascan® is an optical procedure for diagnostic imaging of rheumatoid arthritis in the joints off both hands. The method is tailored to the contrast agent Indocyanine Green (e. g. ICG-Pulsion®), which is approved in Europe as an agent for diagnostics of microcirculation. The altered microcirculation as a characteristic feature of inflammatory disease is clinically and experimentally well understood.
The Rheumascan® procedure can be performed without notable preparations of the patient. The duration of the examination is 6 to 10 minutes. Already about 60 seconds after i.v. contrast administration, altered microcirculation of arthritic joints will be visualized by an increased signal of the contrast agent. By performing a Rheumascan®, the physician simultaneously receives information on the activity of inflammation in more than 30 joints of both hands.
The fluorescence camera system Xiralite® for the first time provides the technical basis for performing a Rheumascan® on a routine basis. Xiralite® excites the fluorescence of ICG by illuminating the hands with light emitting diodes (LEDs) of the dark red spectral range. The software XiraView operates the examination and assists in data acquisition and analysis.