2.28.2012

Siemens’ New Biograph mCT PET•CT System Receives FDA Clearance

Malvern, Pa., February 15, 2012 – Siemens Healthcare has announced that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently cleared the features associated with the new Biograph mCT positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET•CT) scanner. The new Biograph mCT enables precise measurement of metabolic processes and data quantification, including the assessment of neurological disease and cancerous tissue, as well as cardiac blood flow (perfusion). Technological innovations and intelligent software solutions within the new PET•CT result in accurate, consistent quantitative assessments. With the new Biograph mCT, which was unveiled last November at the 2011 annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) in Chicago, Siemens offers yet another paradigm in PET•CT, bolstering the company’s innovative power and competitiveness – a goal of its recently announced global initiative, Agenda 2013.

Accuracy and reproducibility in PET quantification enable the physician to more precisely characterize cancer lesions, which permits better staging and monitoring of changes in activity over time for more accurate assessment of treatment response. The ability to measure absolute myocardial blood flow in cardiology allows the physician to more accurately assess multi-vessel disease. In neurology, noninvasive assessment of the brain can potentially improve the diagnosis and management of patients who present with signs of dementia.

source: Siemens Medical

2.11.2012

International Medical Imaging Experts Join Efforts to Advance Prostate Cancer Care

BOSTON, Feb. 8, 2012 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- American College of Radiology (ACR), AdMeTech Foundation and European Society of Urogenital Radiology (ESUR) Create Standards for High Quality MRI

ACR, AdMeTech Foundation and ESUR announced today a joint effort to create standards for a high quality prostate MRI and to expedite its transfer of technologies from laboratories to patients. Standards for the Magnetic Resonance Prostate Imaging Reporting and Data System (MR PI-RADS) are modeled after successful efforts in breast cancer care, and are planning to be released in early 2013.

The goal of this international cooperation is to address the central challenge in prostate cancer care recently framed by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, American Cancer Society and other groups - improving early detection while reducing unnecessary biopsies and treatment. MR PI-RADS will be based on prostate MRI guidelines developed by ESUR and the work by the AdMeTech Foundation's International Prostate MRI Working Group.

AdMeTech Foundation has been providing international leadership in supporting research, development and testing of high-precision prostate MRI since 1998. AdMeTech's research program has been funded by the Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research Center, U.S. Army Medical Research, and Materiel Command, Fort Detrick, MD. Dr. Faina Shtern, President of AdMeTech Foundation said, "In the '90s, the American College of Radiology led development of the BI-RADS standardization of breast cancer imaging which transformed women's health. Over the last several years, ESUR led the way in the development of proposed clinical reporting guidelines for prostate MRI."

source: PR Newswire