Confirming the presence, extent, and size of lesions remains the goal of a large portion of imaging studies. These factors are essential to enabling the patient to receive appropriate treatment in a timely manner. Moreover, in the new world of personalized medicine, lesion quantification is critical to timely decisions about whether to cease or redouble specific treatment options.
The radiologist’s challenge, of course, is to make those determinations in an environment of broad variability. A clear understanding generally involves merging data from multiple imaging modalities with different acquisition parameters and varying levels of image quality. Here are some of the ways we’re making lesion detection and quantification easier.
What you'll see
Spectral CT for hard-to-diagnose lesions Learn more about IQon spectral CT:
Improved detectability & characterization of small lesions with digital PET Learn more about Vereos digital PET/CT:
Empowering radiologists, the unsung heroes of value-based care The past 30 years have seen medical imaging technology revolutionize the way we deliver healthcare. Today, more patients than ever undergo diagnostic imaging scans, making radiologists the often-invisible hero in determining their path to confident diagnosis and treatment.
Spectral CT for hard-to-diagnose lesions
The dilemma of when to perform spectral scans
With conventional CT, the decision of whether to perform a spectral scan can be a difficult judgment call for the radiologist. If an initial conventional scan reveals an issue, but not the root cause, additional testing may be necessary. IQon Spectral CT is the world’s first and only detector-based spectral CT that captures spectral information every time a patient is scanned, without the need for patient pre-selection. IQon delivers diagnostic certainty using multiple layers of spectral data, allowing the first exam to be the right exam. Lesions can be seen that were not identified through conventional CT. Multiple layers of spectral data, and retrospective review and analysis of scans allow for lesion identification upon the first attempt, enabling quicker treatment, while reducing cost and maintaining workflow
The dilemma of when to perform spectral scans
With conventional CT, the decision of whether to perform a spectral scan can be a difficult judgment call for the radiologist. If an initial conventional scan reveals an issue, but not the root cause, additional testing may be necessary. IQon Spectral CT is the world’s first and only detector-based spectral CT that captures spectral information every time a patient is scanned, without the need for patient pre-selection. IQon delivers diagnostic certainty using multiple layers of spectral data, allowing the first exam to be the right exam. Lesions can be seen that were not identified through conventional CT. Multiple layers of spectral data, and retrospective review and analysis of scans allow for lesion identification upon the first attempt, enabling quicker treatment, while reducing cost and maintaining workflow
Identifying head and neck lesions
The ability to identify lesions in the neck can be difficult at times due to their location or artifacts from metal and bone. The IQon Spectral CT allows the use of multiple spectral results that can help enhance lesion visualization. IQon delivers diagnostic certainty using multiple layers of spectral data, allowing the first exam to be the right exam. In this case, a middle-aged female undergoing treatment for head and neck cancer received a follow-up scan on the IQon Spectral CT. A lesion at the base of the tongue on the right side was difficult to detect using conventional CT images only. MonoE 50 keV spectral results allowed the clinician to visualize the lesion boundaries, differentiating it from the surrounding tissue. Additional spectral results such as Z Effective, coupled with the Spectral Magic Glass feature, enabled additional layers of spectral information as well as simultaneous viewing and quick comparison of up to five different spectral results for a region of interest.
Improved detectability & characterization of small lesions with digital PET
Visualization of small lesions
Visualization of small lesions is essential for clinicians to diagnose, stage and monitor therapy in oncology patients*. Unmet needs in molecular imaging include detection of small lesions, low dose and fast scans, and clear separation of responders vs. non-responders to therapy.
Philips Vereos digital PET/CT improves detectability and characterization of small lesions relative to the same patient acquired on analog PET/CT. As the first and only true digital PET/CT system offering, Vereos Digital PET/CT is clinically proven to reveal small lesions, enabling a path to improved diagnosis, staging and treatment monitoring.
In this case, Vereos reveals a lung lesion that was not visualized on the Gemini TF analog system. The improved detectability of small lung lesions with Vereos digital PET/CT could have a significant impact on the staging of the patient, affecting the patient management pathway and determining timely response to treatment.
* Hussain T, Nguyen QT. Molecular Imaging for Cancer Diagnosis and Surgery. Advanced drug delivery reviews. 2014;66:90-100.
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