UAB Surgery’s Division of Vascular Surgery and Endovascular Therapy and UAB Medicine have become the first in the United States, and only the second institution in the world, to utilize LumiGuide, a second-generation 3D device guidance solution, that is powered by Fiber Optic RealShape (FORS) technology. This is an advanced internal device visualization solution utilizing light technology for navigation inside blood vessels without the use of fluoroscopy. 

 This light technology reduces procedure time and the need for fluoroscopy by providing unprecedented, full-shape, real-time, 3D device visualization within the patient’s arterial anatomy.

Because of this new technology, surgeons are no longer limited to just X-ray and ultrasound technology for internal visualization and can obtain views of complex vascular anatomy that would otherwise not be possible. 

 “Aortic aneurysms present themselves in extremely varied shapes with complexities added by occlusive disease and vessel tortuosity. Having this new technology allows us to expedite surgery times and gives us detailed visualization of internal arterial anatomy without the need for fluoroscopy and radiation. The vision of UAB’s leadership team provided the opportunity for early access to this system and has allowed us to stay on the cutting edge of imaging and endovascular aortic repair technologies,” says UAB Vascular Surgery & Endovascular Therapy Division Director and member of the UAB Cardiovascular Institute Adam Beck, M.D., who performed the operation.

In November 2021, UAB’s Division of Vascular Surgery became the first in the Southeast to utilize the technology in its first iteration of FORS to treat a thoracoabdominal aneurysm.