GE’s Discovery PET/CT 600

GE Healthcare (Booth 5529) is introducing the latest addition to its PET/CT family of systems, the Discovery PET/CT 600 and highlighting two new technologies for its Discovery Dimension PET/CT systems, motion free PET/CT and VUE Point. The company also is featuring its Hawkeye 4 SPECT/CT scanner and eXplore speCZT for pre-clinical CT imaging.

GE is unveiling its newest PET/CT scanner, the Discovery PET/CT 600. The new system is optimized for use in oncology, which represents more than 90 percent of clinical PET/CT exams. 

Also being showcased is the GE eXplore CT120 scanner, an all-new design based on years of research CT scanner experience. Using x-ray source technology derived from clinical systems, the eXplore CT 120 features 100 times the output of previous GE laboratory research imaging systems, the company says. This power enables x-ray exposures fast enough and detailed enough to capture the motion of a beating mouse heart, and brings the power of cardiac CT imaging to a popular mammal used in disease research and drug development.

The system employs GE’s bismuth germanium oxygen (BGO) crystal PET technology coupled with its BrightSpeed CT system, along with GE’s exclusive VUE Point HD, high-definition imaging. For clinicians, the Discovery PET/CT 600 provides a large 70 cm bore that offers a full 70 cm PET and CT field-of-view and about 225kg (500 lbs.) patient table. The GE Discovery PET/CT 600 also offers an increased vertical scan range that provides more flexibility in radiation treatment planning and patient positioning.

GE is showcasing technologies on its Discovery Dimension – high definition PET image processing, patient motion management and clinical productivity features. The newest version of Discovery Dimension helps clinicians advance toward the goal of motion free PET/CT imaging by allowing them to address imaging mismatches related to respiratory and cardiac motion, according to the company.  These include motion correction techniques that effectively improve clinical results and minimize blur caused by motion.

For PET image generation, the company is showing a new application, VUE Point, which can help improve small lesion detectability, clinical confidence and exam productivity.  The application is available on the Discovery Dimension with new installations or by Continuum field upgrades for installed Discovery ST systems.VUE Point incorporates proprietary image reconstruction algorithms; including volume scatter correction and a patented image projection technique developed at GE’s Global Research facility, and is enabled by the Volume CT reconstruction technology development. VUE Point is applicable to both 2D and 3D PET acquisition modes for static, dynamic and motion imaging.  

For SPECT/CT imaging, GE is featuring two new technologies on the company’s 4-slice Infinia Hawkeye 4. The new Volumetrix Suite consists of two powerful applications that deliver image clarity and diagnostic confidence with precise detection and localization of disease: the Volumetrix 3D and Volumetrix IR.  Volumetrix 3D brings together the convenience of advanced 3D visualization with the productivity and ease of traditional 2D image analysis. Volumetrix IR offers a clinician the choice of virtually any CT to view registered to the SPECT data, all within the nuclear medicine workflow.

GE’s pre-clinical imaging products include the new eXplore speCZT, the first full-ring, solid-state detector small animal SPECT that utilizes a cadmium zinc telluride (CZT) detector and allows for full 360-degree coverage around the animal and high-energy resolution to enable dual or triple radio-nuclide imaging. The increased sensitivity of speCZT helps medical researchers perform dynamic small animal SPECT imaging to precisely quantify radiotracer uptake and identify morphological changes.