Siemens Healthcare has launched its new Biograph mCT Flow – a groundbreaking PET-CT system. For the first time ever the system overcomes the limitations of conventional bed-based PET-CT with FlowMotion, an innovative new technology that moves the patient smoothly through the system’s gantry, while continuously acquiring PET data.

The Biograph mCT Flow with FlowMotion intends to takes routine image quality to a new level by enabling imaging protocols based on the organ’s need. FlowMotion expands accurate and reproducible quantification in all dimensions for precise disease characterisation in therapy monitoring, while enabling clinicians to offer as low as reasonably achievable (ALARA) dose to every patient. The combination of a 78cm bore with five-minute rapid imaging and a continuous sense of progress throughout the scan also provides the patient with a more comfortable experience.

The new technology was introduced at the 2013 annual meeting of the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging in Canada, demonstrating Siemens’ innovation and competitiveness – key components of the Healthcare Sector’s Agenda 2013 two-year initiative. The system is part of Siemens Healthcare’s amyloid imaging range that also includes syngo®.PET Amyloid Plaque software that enables evaluation of amyloid plaque density in the brain – a necessary pathology of Alzheimer’s disease. Alongside the PET-CT system, Siemens Healthcare also unveiled the new Explora One™ chemistry box – a fully integrated cassette-based solution for the production of F PET imaging biomarkers.

“Siemens is proud to usher in a bold new era of PET imaging with the Biograph mCT Flow PET-CT system,” states Lawrence Foulsham, Molecular Imaging Product Manager at Siemens Healthcare. “The system’s FlowMotion anatomy-based scanning approach helps enable clinicians to make a more confident diagnosis based on high quality images for each patient, as well as accurate and reproducible quantification for treatment planning and monitoring.”

Greater detail in organ imaging and accurate quantification
Fundamentally changing how PET imaging is performed, the Biograph mCT
Flow with FlowMotion technology eliminates the need for stop-and-go, bed-based planning with planning and scanning based on the single continuous motion of the patient table. The clinician can adjust the examination parameters such as speed, image resolution and motion management to the precise dimensions of organs and routinely incorporate this into a single scan for every patient. By continuously moving the patient through the detection system, FlowMotion technology eliminates overlapping bed acquisitions and maintains uniform noise sensitivity across the entire scan range, providing accurate and reproducible quantification.

Minimum dose and maximum speed
FlowMotion eliminates CT dose due to over scanning by enabling the clinician to precisely define the beginning and end of the PET scan, ensuring the patient is not irradiated in areas of the body that do not require a CT scan. Meanwhile, the new Biograph mCT Flow, coupled with TrueV, is the only solution that has the potential to deliver continuous scanning at twice the speed of conventional PET-CT. When combined with ultraHD-PET, which delivers increased image quality, routine clinical scans can be performed in five minutes. Throughput is further enhanced by one click FAST planning, with a simple protocol setup to determine the scan type and duration for up to four zones.

For more information on the new Biograph mCT Flow PET-CT system with FlowMotion technology, visit: www.siemens.co.uk/healthcare

Agenda 2013 – Definition:
Agenda 2013 is a global initiative to further strengthen Healthcare Sector's innovative power and competitiveness. Four fields of action have been defined: Innovation, Competitiveness, Regional Footprint, and People Development, with specific measures to be implemented over the next year.

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 optimising clinical workflows for the most common diseases, Siemens also makes healthcare faster, better and more cost-effective. Siemens Healthcare employs some 51,000 employees worldwide and operates around the world. For further information please visit: http://www.siemens.co.uk/healthcare.