DynaCT C-arm System

Another interesting product coming out of Siemens, the DynaCT C-arm System, according to the company “enables completely new views during endovascular procedures”:

Siemens Medical Solutions introduced DynaCT for the first time in Europe at the ECR (European Congress of Radiology) March, 4th – 8th, 2005 in Vienna, Austria. This new application enables users of angiographic C-arm systems to create soft tissue images based on the principles of CT. These CT like images allow soft tissue differentiation that enables, for instance, detection of intracranial hemorrhages and visualization of the brain tissue. This in turn supports decision making during interventions. It is all made possible by modern flat detector (FD) technology from Siemens.
Angiographic C-arm systems are designed to generate projection images. For several years, rotational angiography and their corresponding reconstruction methods have been able to generate and visualize 3D volumes from these projection images. This method, established in hospitals, was developed to display high contrast image content (bones, vessels with contrast agent, etc.). In combination with the flat detector, DynaCT now enables soft tissue differentiation. Clinical images, comparable to those generated by a CT scanner, can display organs, vessels or hemorrhages.
These new views using an angiography system open many new applications in neuroradiology, as well as abdominal or oncological interventions. Applications range from the visualization of vascular systems, with the ability to detect hemorrhages and changes in size, to support for drainage procedures, as well as tumor embolization and ablation. In many cases, computed tomography was previously used in these cases for imaging. With DynaCT, repositioning the patient from the angiography suite to a computed tomography facility is eliminated, which, in fact, was performed rarely because of the difficulty and increased risk. The time required often was enough to rule out the use of such measures.
Generating slice images at the C-arm system is extremely easy: the physician rotates the C-arm in a circle about the patient and performs a number of acquisitions in accordance with the protocol. Subsequently, images are reconstructed in the same manner as with a CT system and sent to the angiography system monitor. Within three minutes, the physician receives the results in the form of slice images, which can display objects of up to 10 HU (Hounsfield units) difference and 10 mm in size. Cranial hemorrhages, ventricles and cranial structures can be detected in these slice images. Additionally, tumors can be differentiated from healthy tissue.

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