New Hybrid SPECT-CT Technology Developed

The addition of diagnostic CT will improve all aspects of SPECT imaging, and minimize the ‘scientific guestimates' we've relied upon previously,” stated Dr. Homer A. Macapinlac, deputy chairman, department of nuclear medicine, MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, TX, USA. "In fact, nuclear medicine has been nicknamed ‘unclear medicine' in the past. Having the ability to fuse and register SPECT images with the anatomical images of diagnostic CT scans will instead make it ‘clear medicine' for the future.

The scanner, called TruePoint, integrates the e.cam SPECT imaging technology of Siemens Medical Solutions (Erlangen, Germany) with its CT technology. Siemens states that the system has the potential to revolutionize diagnosis and treatment for cancer, cardiac, and neurologic diseases. With a single scan, this imaging technology captures diagnostic data both on the molecular and anatomic levels, enabling doctors to detect changes in molecular activity before structural changes become visible. Siemens' Symbia platform with TruePoint SPECT-CT will enable clinicians to utilize the device in three ways to perform three separate studies--multislice CT, SPECT, and SPECT-CT--all in a single system.




Related Links:
Siemens Medical