February 18, 2009 – GE Healthcare said the new Discovery PET/CT 600-series scanners, designed to help enable earlier detection and accurate monitoring of disease, are being installed globally.
The first clinical installs will be completed at: Miami Baptist Hospital in Florida; University Hospital of Bichat in Paris, France; Queensland X-Ray at the Mater Hospital in Brisbane, Australia; Duke University Medical Center in North Carolina; and Mayo Clinic in Minnesota.
The new PET/CT platform was built based on clinician needs for more power to explore the potential of PET/CT imaging that includes better PET quantitative accuracy, according to GE. This new line of PET/CT scanners, combine advanced molecular imaging tools with the large coverage low dose Volume CT helping allow for earlier diagnosis, more accurate tumor location and better assessment of how a patient is responding to cancer treatment. Although mostly for use in oncology, PET/CT can also be used for assisting the diagnosis of cardiovascular disease and neurological conditions.
The new system leverages the high-speed, high-resolution capabilities of GE’s advanced CT, the LightSpeed VCT. Volume CT technology, with 40 mm of coverage, reduces CT acquisition times and CT dose. Static organs can be imaged in as little as one second, the lung in as little as two seconds and a whole body trauma could be performed in less than 10 seconds.
GE's next generation of MotionFree imaging technologies are introduced in the new Discovery 600 series PET/CT, giving clinicians detailed images even in areas of the body subject to movement caused by respiration. GE's MotionFree imaging technologies are integrated with VUE Point FX, an advanced high-definition reconstruction technique. Combined, these technologies have the potential to improve small lesion detection, image quality, and better therapy response monitoring.
By combining the LightSpeed VCT with the breakthrough motion management capabilities of the Discovery PET system, the new Discovery PET/CT platform provides the next evolution PET/CT system, bringing clinically-relevant innovations designed to open doors to new and advanced procedure possibilities in non-invasive diagnostic imaging.
For more information: www.gehealthcare.com