Siemens Healthcare has already contributed to reducing the radiation dose in diagnostic and interventional radiology with many technical innovations. Now Siemens is the first manufacturer to issue a comprehensive 'Guide to Low Dose'. Aimed at physicians and medical technical staff, this guide describes the basics of radiation used for medical purposes. It gives a detailed explanation of the functions currently available to reduce dose in radiological imaging from Siemens. Users learn about how these features can help them to protect patients and clinical staff by minimizing radiation dose during examinations.
"In the most relevant imaging procedures, such as computed tomography, angiography and molecular imaging, Siemens has pioneered the development of dose reduction technologies for many years," says Waclaw Lukowicz CEO Siemens Healthcare Middle East and Africa Cluster.
Alongside dose reduction, dose control is an important measure for avoiding unnecessary radiation. In future radiological devices from Siemens therefore a warning message to the user will appear if a certain dose threshold is exceeded in critical applications. Reports are generated for examinations; these contain the patient data, the relevant protocol and the dose values. Clinics can then analyze this information according to specific criteria, such as the doses administered, and optimize their protocols and processes accordingly.
Right from the start, Siemens was one of the pioneers of dose reduction in computed tomography. As early as 1994, scientists and engineers from Siemens had developed CARE Dose4D, the first fully automatic radiation exposure control technique. This was followed by ECG-synchronized dose modulation (ECG pulsing) and the Adaptive Dose Shield. ECG pulsing automatically reduces the dose during cardiac CT examinations, while the Adaptive Dose Shield is the first dynamic collimator capable of eliminating unnecessary radiation that cannot be used for image reconstruction.
The molecular imaging technologies SPECT (Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography), SPECT/CT and PET/CT from Siemens are designed to reduce the radiation dose for all exams, simplifying the scanning process considerably and yielding high image quality at the lowest possible dose level, even for obese and pediatric patient examinations.
"The use of myocardial perfusion PET.CT, delivered by the Biograph mCT is a major technical advance in cardiac care in the UAE. The new technology is safer than older techniques in terms of radiation exposure, but delivers higher quality images," said Thomas F Heston, MD. Heston Consultant Physician in the UAE, a Fellow of the American Society of Nuclear Cardiology, and medical director of the cardiac PET.CT program at Tawam Molecular Imaging Centre.
The Symbia T series can also perform diagnostic spiral CT, which enables low dose, ultra-fast cardiac studies including calcium scoring, a unique feature compared to other general purpose SPECT/CT systems on the market.
For interventional imaging in radiology and cardiology, Siemens has developed a range of CARE applications that are supplied as standard with every angiography system of the Artis zee family. The new CARE applications reduce radiation not only for patients but also for clinical staff, as well as simplifying the post-examination documentation of the dose values. Thanks to special applications such as radiation-free collimation and patient positioning or pulsed fluoroscopy, both the patient and the examiner are exposed to as much as 75 percent less radiation.
All mobile X-ray devices of the ARCADIS family from Siemens are equipped with the latest dose reduction functions as standard. They include EASY (Enhanced Acquisition System), which can be used to analyze the images during acquisition to optimize dose, brightness and contrast. Even objects outside the focus are displayed with high precision. Additional copper filters, radiation-free collimation and multilevel dose control also help to ensure that the minimum necessary dose is applied. For pediatric surgery, where dose levels are most critical, the ARCADIS Avantic features a detachable grid.
The mammography platform Mammomat Inspiration features a wide range of functions and technical details to minimize the radiation dose. These include, for example, a special X-ray tube with a tungsten anode and new AEC algorithms that optimize the dose individually according to breast size and tissue type.
The multifunctional urology workstation UROSKOP Omnia is also equipped with CARE programs. Pulsed fluoroscopy and radiation-free collimation and patient positioning enable the radiation dose to be reduced. In addition, the physician can adjust the dose required for acquisition and fluoroscopy to exactly the right level by selecting an organ program specially tailored to the examination being conducted.
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The Healthcare Sector is one of the world's largest suppliers to the healthcare industry and a trendsetter in medical imaging, laboratory diagnostics, medical information technology and hearing aids. Siemens offers its customers products and solutions for the entire range of patient care from a single source - from prevention and early detection to diagnosis, and on to treatment and aftercare. By optimizing clinical workflows for the most common diseases, Siemens also makes healthcare faster, better and more cost-effective. Siemens Healthcare employs some 48,000 employees worldwide and operates around the world. In fiscal year 2010 (to September 30), the Sector posted revenue of Euros12.4 billion and profit of around Euros750 million. For further information please visit: http://www.siemens.com/healthcare
© Press Release 2011
