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Research Shows New CT Can Help Physicians Diagnose Heart Disease in Early Stages; Siemens Sensation is the First Commercially Available 16-Slice Scanner
Business Wire, August 19, 2002
Business Editors/Medical Writers
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 19, 2002
Today, the SOMATOM Sensation 16 from Siemens Medical Solutions is the first and only 16-slice computed tomography (CT) scanner commercially available and installed as a released product in U. S. facilities.
The SOMATOM Sensation 16 can help physicians diagnose heart disease in its earliest stages, without the need for surgery or angiography. Proven in the clinical environment, doctors believe the cardiac imaging capability of the new scanner will be a critical tool in early diagnosis and may improve the effectiveness of treatment of coronary heart disease, a known cause of heart attacks.
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The SOMATOM Sensation 16 was first seen at the Radiological Society of North America's (RSNA) Annual Conference last fall, followed by the introduction of the SOMATOM Sensation Cardiac - a 16-slice scanner for cardiology - at the meeting of the American College of Cardiology (ACC).
The Siemens CT scanner uses "16-slice" technology to allow for four-times more speed, real-time reconstruction, and higher image resolution than today's standard 4-slice CT machines. With a speed of 0.4s for a full revolution, the image capture system provides up to 100ms acquisition time per image, making this multi-slice CT system among the fastest in the industry. This increased speed provides a dramatic difference, particularly when imaging moving organs such as the heart. Because more images are gathered in one rotation of the CT gantry, and because real-time reconstruction is possible, doctors are now able to gather more information in a shorter period of time enabling them to make decisions faster. The improved image quality of the 16-slice scanner additionally allows doctors to see small vessels and other fine anatomical details that could not be seen before without surgery.
Dr. Christoph Becker from the Grosshadern Clinic in Munich recently presented the first clinical case studies that show the new scanner can visualize and differentiate coronary lesions in early, possibly pre-clinical stages.
"Based on the performance of this new technology, cardiac CT has the potential to become a complementary tool to invasive coronary catheterization and may allow for effective control of pharmaceutical treatment like lipid-lowering agents," Dr. Becker noted.
Dr. Becker demonstrated that, for the first time, even small coronary arteries with less than one-millimeter diameter could be assessed with the new CT scanner. Soft coronary plaques, associated with coronary artery disease and possibly acute heart attacks, may be visualized at an early stage of the disease.
The high potential of cardiac CT as a new tool for non-invasive and earlier diagnosis of coronary heart disease also has been outlined by studies performed with Siemens CT equipment and presented by Dr. Schroder from the Tubingen University at the 2001 American Heart Association conference in the fall.
"Over 12 million Americans have a history of coronary heart disease, and every year about 7.5 million suffer a heart attack. In fact, approximately half a million people die because of coronary heart disease and half of these without even being hospitalized," said Dr. Erich Reinhardt, president and chief executive officer of Siemens Medical Solutions. "There is a clear need here for a reliable, non-invasive and economical tool to diagnose heart disease at an early stage, and to track progression of disease in order to allow for successful medical care."
The SOMATOM Sensation 16 is capable of acquiring over 32 slices per second when operating at its maximum rotation speed. The new CT system is a member of the Siemens SOMATOM family and based on a 16-slice detector platform with optimized performance for cardiac and cardiovascular applications. The technology uses cutting-edge cardiac reconstruction and cardiac function analysis software, as well as newly developed concepts for electrocardiogram (ECG)-correlated acquisition. The new technology also uses anatomy-based and ECG-based dose optimization techniques to allow for radiation exposure reductions of up to 50% higher than previous state-of-the-art CT technology.
Siemens Medical Solutions of Siemens AG (NYSE: SI), with headquarters in Erlangen, Germany, is one of the largest suppliers to the healthcare industry in the world.
The company is renowned for its innovative products, including imaging systems for diagnosis, therapy equipment for treatment, hearing instruments, and critical care and life support systems, as well as a wide array of information technology and data management solutions that optimize workflow and increase efficiency in hospitals, clinics and doctors' offices. The company is known as the premiere health information application service provider processing more than 133 million transactions daily and managing more than 67 terabytes of data - twice the information volume of the Library of Congress.
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