Dual-Source CT Scanner Receives FDA Approval

With two sets of advanced X-ray tubes and detectors, a new dual-source computed tomography (CT) scanner provides sophisticated imaging technology to all patients, including some of the most challenging: patients with renal insufficiency, young children, and patients who are unable to hold their breath.

Siemens Healthcare (Erlangen, Germany) has announced that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has cleared the Somatom Force computed tomography (CT) system, the next generation in dual-source CT technology. The new CT scanner overcomes imaging limitations, making low-dose CT available for an even wider range of patients. With the remarkable power reserves of its innovative Vectron tube, the Somatom Force delivers routine adult imaging with fast, low-dose protocols.

“The Somatom Force represents a dramatic leap forward in CT technology, helping healthcare organizations improve diagnostic confidence with access to an imaging tool that maximizes the patient experience for many more people in their communities,” said Murat Gungor, vice president, CT and radiation oncology business management, Siemens Healthcare.

CT imagers have, for a long time, been studying the usage of different energy levels [kV] to produce an enhanced contrast-to-noise ratio and lower patient radiation dose. Lowering kV levels also can potentially increase enhancement of contrast medium, so less contrast may be necessary. This practice had limitations because earlier generations of CT scanners could not effectively power imaging at very low kV levels except when imaging children or very small adults. In early research with the Somatom Force, radiologists have observed low, previously unachievable kV imaging findings that are enabled by the Force’s power reserves.

“The massively enhanced tube power of the Somatom Force enables imaging that can be acquired at very low kV settings—and therefore at a lower level of radiation dose—routinely in adult patients and even those of a larger body type. In the past, these low kV settings would have resulted in noisy, nondiagnostic studies,” said Joseph Schoepf, MD, director of CT research and development and professor of radiology and cardiology at Medical University of South Carolina (Charleston, USA).

The system, due to its low kV imaging, extends CT’s application for patients with renal insufficiency. While necessary for conventional CT imaging, iodine contrast medium can put a burden on the kidneys, especially for older patients or those with chronic kidney disease. Previously, clinicians had two options: scan without contrast or avoid scanning entirely. Due to its low kV imaging, Force extends CT imaging use for these patients, particularly in critical care instances when they can most benefit.

With an extremely fast, versatile scanning mode, the imaging technology enables the user to perform an entire adult chest, abdomen, and pelvis study in only one second, so patients need not hold their breath. For example, patients who present with shortness of breath and are evaluated for pulmonary embolism can now be imaged with no breath hold, due to its low kV imaging, Force’s Turbo Flash Mode. With no need for a patient breath hold, clinicians can make faster, more effective decisions and can better deliver timely intervention. In cardiac imaging, the technology can obtain an entire study within one-quarter of a heart beat at a native temporal resolution of 66 ms—the speed required to freeze even the fastest-moving anatomy such as the right coronary artery.

The technology, due to its low kV imaging, may also enable low-dose imaging in lung and colon exams. Low-dose imaging is attributable to two spectral filters known as selective photon shields that optimize the X-ray range to significantly improve air/soft-tissue contrast. Patients who are diagnosed with lung or colon cancer are likely to undergo further follow-up imaging studies that can now be delivered at a continually low dose to enable more decisive treatment and post-therapy evaluations.

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