NYU Langone Medical Center is the first in the country to offer patients access to the new Siemens Somatom Definition Edge single-source computed tomography system (Edge CT), one of the world's fastest CT scanners capable of generating high quality, 3-D diagnostic images using extremely low radiation.
"The Edge CT offers our patients precise diagnoses using doses that are 70-80 percent less than levels already proven to be safe by accrediting organizations - some patients may actually only need a dose comparable to natural background radiation, without sacrificing image quality," said Alec J. Megibow, MD, MPH, FACR, professor, Department of Radiology and director of Outpatient Imaging Services at NYU Langone Medical Center.
X-ray computed tomography (CT) is a medical imaging procedure that utilizes computer-processed X-rays to produce three-dimensional images, or 'slices' of specific areas of the body. Building on that technology, the Edge CT uses new, advanced and highly sensitive detectors and complex software algorithms to translate X-ray energy data into high-quality, diagnostic images. Traditionally, using lower dose radiation would make the images more susceptible to external interference, or "noise." This new combination of hardware and software allow for the significant reduction in required radiation dose to obtain high-quality scans.
Additionally, the Edge CT allows radiologists to capture images of structures as small as 0.3 mm, at a faster speed, thereby improving a patient's experience. For example, using this new technology for a customary thorax-abdomen CT scan may be completed in approximately two seconds.
The faster imaging speed combined with much lower dose will benefit emergency department physicians who need to make quick treatment decisions based on diagnostic images; and clinicians treating cardiovascular conditions, where coronary arteries move continuously with the heart, will have an enhanced ability to detect coronary stenosis and atherosclerotic changes in plaque formations.
"Diagnostic imaging science continues to make critical contributions to the advancement of clinical techniques, enhanced patient outcomes and medical research," said Michael Recht, MD, the Louis Marx Professor of Radiology and chair of the Department of Radiology at NYU Langone Medical Center. "Our goal is to help improve the lives of people by enabling low-dose technology development and less-invasive treatments."
The first Edge CT system is now available in NYU Langone's Department of Radiology clinical practice. A second Edge CT is planned for Tisch Hospital in the coming months and a third, dual-source system using the same detector and iterative noise reduction technology will be integrated in NYU Langone's new Emergency Department, scheduled to open in 2013.
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