First Mobile PET-CT Scanners Provide Improved Detection, Staging, Accuracy, and Shorter Scan Times

New, mobile positron emission tomography and computed tomography (PET-CT) systems are designed to simplify treatment follow-up for many patients who before could have traveled a great distance for necessary follow-up imaging.

Siemens Healthcare, Molecular Imaging Division (Hoffman Estates, IL, USA) has delivered the first two newly redesigned mobile Biograph 6 TruePoint PET-CT systems to the Florida Radiation Oncology Group (FROG), a division of Integrated Community Oncology Network (ICON), in Jacksonville (FL, USA). A provider of cancer care in Northern Florida, FROG physicians see patients at 14 facilities.

"PET-CT imaging has become critical in radiation oncology patient management,” said Shyam Paryani, M.D., MS, MHA, director of FROG. "Patients will benefit from having these mobile scanners in their communities. They need multiple PET-CT scans throughout the course of treatment, and bringing the imaging to them will spare them a multiple-hour drive when they already are in poor health.”

FROG is the first customer to receive Siemens' enhanced mobile Biograph systems. The system has been completely redesigned to incorporate hardware improvements such as a shorter gantry to reclaim critical space in the scan room, a special cantilevered patient handling system with automatic lock-down, and a completely integrated closed loop cooling system with no external chilling requirement. The new mobile systems also boast significant workflow improvements to facilitate remote operation and support for multiple site connectivity. The mobile system has over 50% faster set-up times; an advanced media viewer and front mounted gating inputs, adding up to improved ergonomics and ease of use.

These are also the first mobile PET-CT systems to feature TrueV, extended field-of-view technology, and they are upgradeable to high-definition PET (HD-PET), the newest innovation in PET-CT technology from Siemens, which provides distortion-free imaging throughout the entire field of view. When TrueV and HD-PET are combined, FROG physicians will have a larger and clearer field of view than they have experienced with older technology. The result will yield improved resolution all the way down to 2 mm. That means physicians will be able to clearly visualize the smallest of lesions from the center of the PET image to the edges.

"Our goal is to provide all medical communities with access to the best and newest molecular imaging technologies available,” said Michael Reitermann, president, Siemens Healthcare, Molecular Imaging. "By enhancing our mobile PET-CT offerings, patients living in any area of the country can benefit from the promise of earlier, more targeted cancer treatment.”

The FROG physicians routinely participate in national clinical trials. Now with access to improved mobile imaging they will be able to enroll more patients in these trials of innovative radiation therapy treatment methods. For instance, a number of clinical trials are examining the effects of image-guided radiation therapy, where the goal is to determine if these highly targeted treatments can improve patient outcomes while decreasing the related toxicity when radiation is delivered near critical healthy structures.


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Siemens Healthcare, Molecular Imaging Division