Siemens Healthineers won FDA clearance and is releasing its brand new SOMATOM X.cite premium single-source CT scanner. The device, along with a high-end X-ray tube and other enhancements, features the company’s new myExam Companion technology that can intelligently adapt each scan to optimize a number of variables.
The system asks a number of relevant questions of the technician about the patient and the exam, and, based on previously learned knowledge, suggests a routine that improves imaging fidelity, reduces the radiation dose, and hopefully leads to improved diagnostic outcomes.
myExam Companion is also being made available on Siemens Healthineers’ SOMATOM go. line of CT scanners.
The SOMATOM X.cite relies on the Vectron X-ray tube that was previously only used on the SOMATOM Force dual source CT scanner from Siemens Healthineers. To allow for freedom to scan nearly all patients and to reduce anxiety inside the scanner, it features an 82 cm bore.
Buyers can choose to include a camera option that lets operators have a live view of their patients from the console or wireless tablet that comes with the scanner. The scanner also has a new “Visual Patient Instruction” feature that helps patients to time their breathing to reduce motion artifacts.
More capabilities of the new scanner and myExam Companion, according to Siemens Healthineers:
Siemens Healthineers analyzed nearly 200,000 scan protocols using artificial intelligence and tapped clinical experts to identify key questions regarding the framework conditions for an optimized scan result. On this basis, Siemens Healthineers designed scan strategies and clinical decision trees to aid in proper setup and scanner operation. At its core, the myExam Companion renders complicated clinical decision-making into these 20-plus, user-definable clinical decision trees that are displayed at the human-machine interface, either at the operator console or using the scanner’s mobile, detachable tablets. These clinical decision tree workflows are sharable across the institution.
An optional FAST Integrated Workflow with FAST 3D Positioning Camera collects further anatomical information and automatically positions the patient at isocenter. The Vectron X-ray tube enables a maximum 1,200 mA High Power mode at low 70 or 80 kV stations; low kV scanning with significant power reserves enables lowering of radiation dose and contrast media volumes. Together with the Stellar Infinity detector, the Vectron tube enables visualization of even the smallest details with 0.30 mm precision resolution. To further personalize the scanning process, the SOMATOM X.cite is capable of fine-tuned 10 kV steps, enabling a greater range of personalized dose modulation.
