GE unveils MRI oncology package, archiving device
GE Healthcare highlighted the launch of a new MRI oncology package during the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology’s (ASTRO) 50th annual meeting in Boston last week.
The Signa MRI Oncology Package enhances MRI for radiation therapy planning and is compatible with most GE MRI systems. GE said that the package consists of a detachable flat-surface patient table with indexed edges, surface coils for high-resolution imaging and treatment positioning aids.
Designed to facilitate patient positioning in the radiation treatment position, the Signa Oncology Package allows the soft-tissue contrast of MRI to be more easily and accurately fused with CT images by providing MRI images that are acquired in the same positioning as CT.
The new package is starting point to get it into the hands of the clinical users to find out what additional MR sequences, or contrast properties, or parametric imaging, are needed, according to Paul Anderson, general manager of oncology, GE.
GE also showcased a scalable, archive device during the show, which can store treatment plans and images relevant to each patient, enabling a radiation oncologist to pre-fetch all related MR, CT and PET studies before the patient arrives at the cancer center. “There is no limit to the number of data sets; you can view eight different studies at the same time,” he added.
He stressed that this device was not an interim solution to perhaps a radiation oncology PACS. “If they see an area where they want to see a previous study from the patient’s history, if they want it immediately, while they are on the station doing the contouring, they can pull the images and related studies right up.”
The Signa MRI Oncology Package enhances MRI for radiation therapy planning and is compatible with most GE MRI systems. GE said that the package consists of a detachable flat-surface patient table with indexed edges, surface coils for high-resolution imaging and treatment positioning aids.
Designed to facilitate patient positioning in the radiation treatment position, the Signa Oncology Package allows the soft-tissue contrast of MRI to be more easily and accurately fused with CT images by providing MRI images that are acquired in the same positioning as CT.
The new package is starting point to get it into the hands of the clinical users to find out what additional MR sequences, or contrast properties, or parametric imaging, are needed, according to Paul Anderson, general manager of oncology, GE.
GE also showcased a scalable, archive device during the show, which can store treatment plans and images relevant to each patient, enabling a radiation oncologist to pre-fetch all related MR, CT and PET studies before the patient arrives at the cancer center. “There is no limit to the number of data sets; you can view eight different studies at the same time,” he added.
He stressed that this device was not an interim solution to perhaps a radiation oncology PACS. “If they see an area where they want to see a previous study from the patient’s history, if they want it immediately, while they are on the station doing the contouring, they can pull the images and related studies right up.”