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New State-Of-The-Art Dual Source CT Scanner Now Operational In The Busse Center
Multidetector CT technology has expanded at a literally exponential rate in a very short time, with the best available four detector scanners of a couple of years ago having quickly been replaced by 16 and then 64 detector machines. A higher number of detectors allows larger anatomic areas to be imaged both faster and in greater detail, a particular advantage when CT angiography (CTA) is being performed.
The new Siemens SOMATOM® Definition dual source CT scanner located in the Gerald Gurtz Advanced Diagnostics Suite of the Busse Center for Specialty Medicine has taken a novel way to even further improve upon this technology. Rather than simply adding more detectors to a standard single xray source CT unit, the SOMATOM® Definition has instead added an extra xray source. For purposes of speed and imaging detail, the combination of two xray sources and 64 detectors is the equivalent of a single source CT scanner with 128 detectors. With this technology, the xray energies of the two sources need not be identical. This allows overall radiation dose to be decreased while at the same time providing better tissue contrast, as the simultaneous use of two different xray energies allows the data to be postprocessed in ways that can better characterize tissue and even digitally "subtract" unwanted structures from the final displayed images.
For patients undergoing single source cardiac CTA, pretest treatment with beta blockers is usually needed to slow the heart rate so that the obtained images are not compromised by cardiac motion artifact. With coronary CTA performed on the SOMATOM® Definition, beta blockade is not necessary as imaging is fast enough to "freeze" normal cardiac motion.
Coronary CTA performed on the NCH SOMATOM® Definition showing in exquisite detail a dominant right coronary artery (red arrows) without significant atherosclerotic disease.
The benefits of dual source CT imaging go well beyond the heart, however. CTA studies of the brain, neck, chest, abdomen and extremities also benefit from the greater anatomic detail, enlarged field of view and the ability to subtract unwanted structures from the displayed images. Additionally, the SOMATOM® Definition can be used as a routine, all purpose CT scanner, with decreased patient radiation dose an important advantage over single source machines.
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Three dimensional reformatted CTA image of the abdominal aorta and lower extremity arteries performed on the NCH SOMATOM® Definition. This "road map" displays the arterial structures as white, the urinary tract as a reddish orange and the other visceral organs as deeper shades of red.
Axial source image from the same CTA study shows a high-grade stenosis involving the origin of the celiac axis (red arrow).
RSNA 2007 Meeting Highlights
The RSNA (Radiological Society of North America) is the largest annual medical meeting in the world, and it took place this year - as usual - at Chicago's McCormick Place the week after Thanksgiving. Below are some highlights of the medical imaging research that was first presented at RSNA 2007:
• While a direct cause and effect relationship was not determined, researchers from London found that women who live in urban areas are more likely than rural women to have mammographically dense breasts and a greater risk of developing breast cancer.
• Hypertension reduces blood flow to the brain of adults with Alzheimer's dementia, and this increases the vulnerability of the brain to the effects of the disease.
•All-terrain vehicles (ATVs) pose a serious risk of injury and even death in children, the incidence of ATV injuries having doubled over the past 10 years and with one-third of these injuries involving children.
Additional information can be found at: RSNA.org.
For more information about Northwest Radiology Associates, the services we provide, and how to contact individual radiologists, please visit our web site: northwestradiologyassociates.com.
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