SOMATOM Definition Edge CT with Stellar Detector Now U.S. Approved

June 21st, 2012 Medgadget Editors Radiology

The FDA cleared the single source SOMATOM Definition Edge CT scanner from Siemens. The device utilizes the company’s new Stellar Detector that fully combines the detector’s electronics with the photodiode in one unit for substantially lower image noise.

The new detector was first introduced in the U.S. earlier this year on the SOMATOM Definition Flash dual-source tomograph, and the technology should prove beneficial on the Definition Edge that’s touted as a CT scanner that is particularly effective in the emergency department thanks to an acquisition speed of 23 cm/sec, allowing for a full scan of a six foot (1.8 meter) patient in about 8.3 seconds.

The new gantry design of the SOMATOM Definition Edge CT system has a very high temporal resolution of 142 ms. The system allows a pitch of 1.7, thus enabling an acquisition speed of up to 23 cm/sec, and is capable of reconstructing 384 slices per rotation. With the SOMATOM Definition Edge, a typical thorax-abdomen examination can be performed in about two seconds, potentially minimizing the need for patient breath-holding during scanning.

Until now, Dual Energy examinations with single-source devices were complicated processes that resulted in dose levels several times higher than levels seen with a customary single-source scan. In keeping with Siemens’ ongoing dose-reduction efforts, The SOMATOM Definition Edge CT system introduces a new scanning technique into single-source CT examinations. During the Dual Energy examination, the SOMATOM Definition Edge performs two CT scans in succession with different energy levels, with each scan potentially using only about half the dose applied in normal mode. Together, the two scans deliver the image signal required. Also, since the voltage in each scan is fixed, the physician can use additional dose-reducing techniques, including CARE Dose4D – a fully automatic radiation exposure control system that adjusts the dose in real time according to the area of the body being scanned. Additionally, the SOMATOM Definition Edge CT system uses the rapid iterative reconstruction method SAFIRE (Sinogram Affirmed Iterative Reconstruction), which may also help to reduce dose levels.² These Siemens offerings enable the generation of Dual Energy images via a single-source system without excessive patient radiation dose.

Here’s a video explaining Siemens’ latest detector technology: