Positron
This Houston PET developer is returning to the RSNA conference after several years of absence due to financial difficulties. Positron is now on the comeback trail, and 2000 has been the best year in the company's history, according to vice president of marketing and sales John Ariatti.
In its RSNA booth, Positron will highlight mPower, a new PET camera platform introduced this year. The new system features better processing power and more software applications than the company's older HZL line, Ariatti said.
The company will emphasize the versatility of mPower, which is suited for cardiology, neurology, and oncology applications, according to Ariatti. In the cardiology realm, mPower can conduct a rest-stress myocardial perfusion study in 30 minutes, and a 100-cm total-body study in less than 50 minutes.
SMV America
The Twinsburg, OH, company will be able to demonstrate its new Positrace hybrid PET/CT scanner as a commercial product after winning FDA clearance for the system in August. SMV will highlight clinical images produced by the system from the first Positrace installation in Rennes, France. The first U.S. installation of Positrace is expected to occur this month.
SMV will demonstrate a new computer platform developed for the system, called Powerstation MPXtreme. The workstation is based on IBM's RS/6000 platform and features new computer technologies like the computer giant's copper-based chip set, as well as an advanced 3-D graphics accelerator. SMV designed the computer specifically to process dual-mode PET/CT studies such as those generated by Positrace, according to the company.
Also in the realm of fusion imaging, SMV will showcase ProFusion, a multimodality image fusion software package that can register and fuse any combination of CT, PET, SPECT, or MRI data sets. ProFusion is designed to support whole-body fused imaging, unlike some image fusion methods, which are mostly effective in the head or thorax, according to SMV.
Siemens Medical Systems - Nuclear Medicine Group
Siemens will highlight several work-in-progress systems that are pushing the envelope of nuclear medicine instrumentation. The Hoffman Estates, IL, company will demonstrate a hybrid PET/CT system that integrates an ECAT HR+ PET camera with a Somatom Emotion CT system. Siemens believes the system will be well-suited for oncology disease management.
Another new system under development is a whole-body PET camera using detectors made from lutetium oxyortho-silicate (LSO) rather than bismuth germanate (BGO). Siemens believes the LSO material enables a higher throughput for PET studies, with the camera capable of performing a whole-body study in only 20 minutes.
A highlight of the Siemens display will be a hybrid PET/SPECT system with segmented sodium iodide scintillation crystals that are one inch thick, rather than the standard 3/8-inch thickness. The design increases efficiency by a factor of four in PET studies and by a factor of two in high-energy SPECT exams, according to the company.
Toshiba America Medical Systems
The T.Cam gamma camera, Toshiba's version of the Siemens E.Cam, will be highlighted in the Tustin, CA, company's booth. Highlights will include a demonstration of an auto-registration tool to fuse nuclear medicine images with CT and MRI data, as well as T.Cam's e.soft workstation.
By Brian Casey
AuntMinnie.com staff writer
November 16, 2000
Go to page:
ADAC through GE
Positron through Toshiba
Copyright © 2000 AuntMinnie.com
