Siemens Expands Customer Return on Innovation at SNM 2011

SAN ANTONIO, June 3, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- At the 2011 SNM Annual Meeting in San Antonio, Siemens Healthcare (booth #6033) will address the increasing demand for molecular imaging procedures and Siemens' efforts to expand molecular imaging's availability in three directions: patient access, clinical utilization, and new clinical applications. Through this benchmark-redefining growth of molecular imaging, Siemens (NYSE: SI) is "Expanding Your Return on Innovation."

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Expanded Clinical Utilization

Two of the most challenging issues facing physicians who are expanding their clinical utilization of molecular imaging scanners are the dual mandates to improve patient safety and increase productivity. Siemens is meeting both of these core needs through its commitment to minimizing dose while maximizing speed. Siemens offers innovative solutions where the lowest dose can be used, while still scanning patients faster than ever.

Symbia® IQ-SPECT technology, which recently received the 2011 North American Nuclear Cardiology Product Differentiation Excellence of the Year Award from the business research and consulting firm of Frost & Sullivan, enables routine scans using half dose and double speed. Its proven technologies provide a comprehensive cardio workup, while easing the burden of the global molybdenum shortage via a reduction in technetium dose. Diagnostic SPECT-CT, including calcium scoring, uses half of the typical technetium dose and cuts acquisition time from approximately 20 minutes to less than five minutes with the addition of IQ-SPECT.

With technologies such as TrueV and ultraHD-PET, where the axial field of view is increased by 33%, and 2mm uniform resolution across the entire field of view is achieved, along with two times improvement in signal to noise ratios, five-minute PET scanning can become routine. The latest evolution in Siemens high-definition PET technologies, HD-Chest provides full high definition (HD) lesion detection and improved SUV quantification for every PET/CT study, every day.

More than 90 percent of today's PET/CT studies are whole-body scans that can be used to investigate the presence of small lesions in the chest or upper abdomen. By providing a highly automated, amplitude-based gating technology, HD-Chest images the chest and upper abdomen in high-definition and eliminates the fundamental problems encountered with phase-based 4D gating, which can be disruptive and time consuming. HD-Chest is an innovative combination of hardware and software, that provides an accurate, sharp image as respiratory motion is frozen. It also encourages an easy workflow for the routine evaluation of chest and upper abdomen lesions, providing additional clinical value with every patient study.

"Traditionally in hybrid imaging, the topics of dose reduction and increased efficiency have been regarded almost as opposing goals, but Siemens has constantly innovated in this area, introducing solutions that truly address the topics of dose and workflow," said Britta Fuenfstueck, chief executive officer, Molecular Imaging Business Unit, Siemens Healthcare. "These solutions, which are customizable to every patient need, enable clinicians to maintain the highest level of image quality while minimizing dose levels and increasing speed."

Expanded Patient Access

With the introduction of the Biograph mCT 20 Excel, Siemens continues to lead molecular imaging innovations by offering affordable imaging performance. The world's first molecular CT, the Biograph mCT 20 Excel is now available to a greater variety of institutions--and ultimately, to more patients.

It was designed to ensure that PET-CT imaging is available to medical institutions throughout the world, including community hospitals, smaller imaging centers and emerging markets exploring hybrid imaging for the first time.

In addition to offering full resolution with HD-PET and time of flight technologies, Biograph mCT 20 Excel boasts a large 78 cm bore and 227 kg (500-pound) capacity table that are optimized for large patients. The large bore also easily accommodates radiotherapy positioning devices for more accurate treatment planning. Using Siemens unique CARE technologies, radiation exposure from CT is minimized for patients. Biograph mCT 20 Excel matches the Biograph reputation for high uptime and being recognized for system performance and reliability by industry reporting organizations, such as MDBuyline.

Expanded Clinical Applications

Expanding the availability of molecular imaging also entails continuously enabling new insights into disease progression. Presented for the first time to the SNM audience, the work-in-progress Biograph mMR* revolutionizes diagnostic imaging by enabling Siemens customers to expand the clinical applications of molecular imaging. For the first time, advanced molecular imaging PET and state-of-the-art 3T magnetic resonance imaging (MR) are fully integrated into one whole-body system. By simultaneously acquiring morphological, functional and metabolic information, Siemens again expands the realm of molecular imaging.

*The Biograph mMR system is pending 510(k) review by the FDA and is not commercially available in all countries. Due to regulatory reasons, its future availability in any country cannot be guaranteed. Please contact your local Siemens organization for further details.

The Siemens 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 12.4 billion euros and profit of around 750 million euros. For further information please visit: www.siemens.com/healthcare.

SOURCE Siemens Healthcare