Molecular PET-CT System Provides Precise Measurement of Metabolic Processes and Data Quantification

Providing accurate, reproducible quantification in molecular imaging, a new positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET-CT) scanner was designed to improve clinical decision-making.

Siemens Healthcare (Erlangen, Germany) has announced that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently cleared the features associated with the new Biograph mCT (PET-CT) scanner. The new Biograph mCT enables precise measurement of metabolic processes and data quantification, including the assessment of neurologic disease and cancerous tissue, as well as cardiac blood flow (perfusion). Technologic developments and intelligent software solutions within the new PET-CT result in accurate, consistent quantitative assessments. The new Biograph mCT was released last November at the 2011 annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) in Chicago (IL, USA).

Accuracy and reproducibility in PET quantification enable the clinician to characterize cancer lesions more precisely, which permits better staging and monitoring of alterations in activity over time for more accurate assessment of treatment response. The ability to measure absolute myocardial blood flow in cardiology allows the physician to evaluate multivessel disease more effectively. In neurology, noninvasive evaluation of the brain can potentially improve the diagnosis and management of patients who present with signs of dementia.

Siemens implemented these clinical requirements in the new Biograph mCT, which supports physicians in treating many neurologic, oncologic, and cardiologic diseases--through earlier, more effective diagnosis, as well as in therapy planning and precise monitoring of disease progression. With this additional information, physicians are better equipped to make decisions with high certainty and initiate more patient-customized therapies.

The latest Biograph mCT can provide additional data to help in the diagnosis of dementia, which affects an estimated 35.6 million people worldwide and may affect as many as 115.4 million people by 2050. Alzheimer’s disease is the most frequently diagnosed form of dementia.

With traditional technology, clinicians face the issue of variability in quantitative results due to software and hardware difficulties. Engineered to overcome these technical and procedural obstacles, the new Biograph mCT offers accurate and reproducible quantification in PET-CT imaging by ensuring optimization of each component of the imaging chain--with an emphasis on excellent volumetric image resolution, daily system calibration, accuracy of attenuation correction using automated coregistration algorithms, and more automated, user-independent and reproducible standardized uptake value (SUV) calculation techniques for daily clinical practice.

The new Biograph mCT incorporates Siemens’ unique OptisoHD (high-definition) detector system, which features a fine volumetric resolution of only 87 mm. Other novel technologies include time of flight (TOF) and HD-PET, ensuring fast, precise images with minimum radiation dose.

With Siemens Quanti•QC, daily system normalization can be performed overnight, calibrating and tuning the system to precisely the right specifications, facilitating consistent and optimal performance.

Siemens Molecular and Anatomical Registration Technologies (SMART) address the traditional problems of inherent scanner drift and inaccurate attenuation correction through misregistration of anatomic and functional images. To expedite accurate attenuation correction and effective quantitative measurements, the new Biograph mCT’s unique patient-handling system virtually eliminates differential deflection. The system also features auto cardiac registration that automatically aligns CT and PET heart images and reduces variability between users. Moreover, SMART offers a new form of attenuation correction for neurologic images that no longer requires CT data.

syngo clinical applications provide essential tools to obtain quantifiable measurements in neurology, cardiology, and oncology imaging. SUVpeak, new in the syngo.via oncology engine, provides consistent, reproducible quantitative assessments of targeted areas. Myocardial blood flow (MBF) can be used as an absolute quantification technique to assess balanced disease in all areas of the heart. In addition, a new quantitative tool in neurology--the syngo.PET Neuro DB Comparison application as part of the syngo.mCT Neurology engine--automatically registers brain data to a fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) PET normal database to help in the assessment of neurologic disorders.

The new Biograph mCT is expected to ship in May 2012.

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