Research trials for hybrid PETCT

From left are head of nuclear medicine physics Dr Michael Masoomi, Siemens product manager for molecular imaging and oncology Lawrence Foulsham, superintendent radiographer David Williams, Jane Schwieso from Siemens Healthcare, radiography manager Sarah Skelton and medical physicist Dr Anne-Marie Stapleton.

The state-of-the-art Queen Alexandra Hospital, part of Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust, which opened last year, has begun using an advanced hybrid PETCT.  Siemens Healthcare says the Biograph mCT combines the first advanced HD/PET platform and the world’s first Adaptive Spiral CT to create a next generation dual modality device for integrated imaging.

The Biograph mCT is currently being used by the nuclear medicine department for a series of research trials where its image quality and low patient doses are proving beneficial.  Patient imaging, including scanning cancer patients for treatment planning, staging and management, will follow.

PETNET Solutions, a division of Siemens plc, supplied the trust with its MetaTrace FDG biomarker for use with the Biograph mCT.  In order to support the trust’s research projects, it is expected that some novel biomarkers will be supplied in the near future.

“The ultraHD/PET gives us distortion free images and uniform resolution across the entire field of view and improved signal-to-noise ratio,” said Dr Michael Masoomi, consultant clinical scientist, head of NM at Queen Alexandra Hospital.

See the full report on page 18 of the December 2010 issue of RAD Magazine.