Siemens Healthineers has received U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clearance for Somatom X.cite, a new CT scanner that uses artificial intelligence to guide users through complex clinical tasks.
X.cite is a single-source CT scanner that employs what Siemens calls myExam Companion, an intelligent user interface concept that identifies the optimal acquisition and reconstruction parameters for patients using information such as their gender and age, in addition to data like their electrocardiogram for a cardiac study. X.cite is the first scanner to be introduced using the myExam Companion concept, according to the company.
myExam Companion is based on artificial intelligence analysis of almost 200,000 scan protocols and the work of clinical experts, who identified scan strategies and clinical decision trees. From this, Siemens created over 20 user-definable clinical decision trees that are displayed at either the scanner operator console or on mobile detachable tablets that can be used to control the scanner.
X.cite sports an 82-cm bore and the company's Vectron x-ray tube. The Vectron tube was previously available only on the Somatom Force dual-source CT scanner.
The scanner also features the Patient Observation Camera, a new 2D visualization camera that enables technologists to monitor patients while they are inside the gantry for potentially fewer patient motion artifacts. The system also includes Visual Patient Instruction, a new visual breath-hold indicator on the gantry that helps guide patients through the breath-hold process with visual instructions that are color coded.
