PET/CT Enables Personalized Exam Protocols

An innovative positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) system allows exam protocols to be based on a patient’s anatomy.

The Siemens Healthineers (Erlangen, Germany) Biograph Horizon Flow Edition PET/CT System features FlowMotion continuous bed motion scanning technology, which allows users to define up to four scanning regions, each with a different bed speed; In addition, specific exam reconstructions can be applied to each scanning region, or to multiple regions. The Biograph Horizon Flow edition also facilitates high-resolution reconstructions and respiratory gating, which can help improve the ability of clinicians to detect lesions.


The system features 4 mm lutetium orthosilicate (LSO) crystals that scintillate faster and boast a higher light output than bismuth germanate oxide (BGO) crystals, thus yielding higher image resolution and better image quality. This enables physicians to visualize small lesions earlier, accurately stage disease, and provide more accurate evaluation of therapy response. The system also enables Time-of-Flight (ToF) acquisition and HD•Chest, a feature that acquires and processes motion-frozen chest scans five times faster than standard respiratory gating techniques.

“With the addition of Biograph Horizon Flow edition to the Siemens Healthineers PET/CT portfolio, customers tasked with reaching a certain price point no longer need to make compromises in the PET/CT technology they offer patients,” said Doug Darrow, VP of molecular imaging at Siemens Healthineers North America. “The Biograph Horizon Flow edition is ideal not only for progressive community hospitals, but also for satellite campuses of large healthcare networks that are looking to provide the same premium continuous bed motion technology as their flagship facilities.”

The Biograph Horizon utilizes the new iteration of the Siemens Healthineers syngo.via molecular imaging workplace image processing solution. For SPECT use in nuclear medicine, syngo.via offers algorithms that help visualize and quantify physiological characteristics of organs such as the lungs, kidneys, and stomach. For PET, tMolecular Tumor Volume (MTV) and Total Lesion Glycolysis (TLG) features enable physicians to measure the standardized metabolic activity of the entire tumor mass.

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