At the 102nd Scientific Assembly and Annual Meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA), Nov. 27 to Dec. 2 at Chicago’s McCormick Place, the separately managed healthcare business of Siemens AG is presenting itself for the first time under its new brand name, Siemens Healthineers. The new name underlines the company’s pioneering spirit and its engineering expertise in the healthcare industry. With a new strategic direction, Siemens Healthineers aims to enable healthcare providers around the world to meet their current challenges and to excel in their respective environments. Through products and solutions designed to increase efficiency and to reduce costs, Siemens Healthineers is setting new trends in healthcare together with its customers – working under the motto “Engineering Success. Pioneering Healthcare. Together.”
Multix Fusion Max
To help healthcare facilities become more competitive, Siemens Healthineers introduces the Multix Fusion Max – a radiography system that combines proven reliability with cost-reduction solutions for fast, high-quality imaging. Supporting a full range of clinical applications, the Multix Fusion Max can perform general X-ray, trauma and emergency, chest screening, on-table examinations, and high-throughput general X-ray – providing small and medium-sized hospitals with the scalability necessary to obtain the right configuration for their patient mix.
Since the Multix Fusion Max is a member of the Max family of Siemens Healthineers radiography systems, users can efficiently swap its X-ray detectors with all other Max systems. This ability to share expensive detector technology across the entire Max portfolio can help a facility boost detector uptime and utilization within the department while having a backup solution available at any time. And the system’s MAXcharge feature prevents battery-related workflow interruptions since the MAX wi-D detector automatically charges whenever it is inside the table or its Bucky wall stand tray as well as when it is stored inside the mobile detector holder.
The ergonomic Bucky wall stand of the Multix Fusion Max enables a facility to image patients from head to toe while standing, sitting, or on a mobile table. And when the height of the table or the Bucky wall stand is adjusted, the system’s X-ray tube tracks and synchronizes automatically to retain the correct source-imaging-distance (SID). Also, the organ programs (OGPs) on the system’s syngo FLC workstation allow users to predefine all important imaging parameters, including kV, mAs, and collimation size, so facilities can cover much of their patient mix without manual adjustments.
Expanded capabilities for xSPECT Quant
Also at RSNA 2016, Siemens Healthineers displays a new, expanded version of xSPECT Quant, an established single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) quantification technology. The expanded version of xSPECT Quant enables users of the company’s Symbia Intevo¹ SPECT/CT system to perform automated, accurate and reproducible quantification of not just Technetium-99m – the most common isotope in SPECT imaging – but also, for the first time, Iodine-123, Lutetium-177, and Indium-111. This expansion of quantifiable isotopes extends the use of advanced SPECT quantification from general nuclear medicine and bone studies to indications including neurological disorders, neuroendocrine tumors, neuroblastoma, and prostate cancer.
xSPECT Quant is the first and only technology to use a 3% National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) traceable precision source,² enabling standardization of uptake values for reliable disease detection and evaluation of therapy response across imaging centers, cameras, and dose calibrators. And the technology offers clinicians higher reproducibility than traditional quantification methods. The absolute quantification capabilities of xSPECT Quant also can facilitate theranostics, an emerging approach employing radioactive isotopes that emit energies to not only image but also enable the physician to treat the patient’s disease.
PURE Platform for angiography
Two brand-new features to the established PURE® platform of Siemens Healthineers simplify the adoption and utilization of advanced features on the company’s Artis zee®, Artis Q, and Artis Q.zen angiography systems.
Aiding clinicians in endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR), syngo EVAR Guidance offers automated detection of vessel walls on computed tomography (CT) datasets as well as automatic placement of landmarks for 3D image guidance. Additionally, syngo EVAR Guidance suggests the optimal angulation of C-arms for precise deployment. Enabling better treatment of highly challenging chronic total occlusions (CTOs), syngo CTO Guidance automatically segments coronary CT angiography (CTA) images in addition to providing procedural guidance.
New syngo.via application
Finally at RSNA 2016, the new syngo.via provides further improved usability and customized fast access to individual user preferences. The software assistant manages diagnostic findings to make relevant data immediately available. Furthermore, syngo.via now brings Cinematic Volume Rendering Technique (Cinematic VRT)3 to any diagnostic monitor, allowing photorealistic clinical images to be generated from any CT or MRI scan – available to the operator with just one click. Cinematic VRT can be used for communications towards referrers and patients, education, and publication purposes.
¹ Symbia Intevo and xSPECT Quant are not commercially available in all countries. Due to regulatory reasons, their availability cannot be guaranteed. Please contact your local Siemens organization for further details.
² Data on file.
³Cinematic VRT is recommended for communication, education, and publication purposes and not intended for diagnostic reading.