Addressing the obstacles to confident diagnosis:

Diagnostically relevant details such as catheters or small vessels must be visible with great clarity, even in challenging viewing conditions with large variations in tissue radio-density. Clarity is essential to reduce exam length and manage dose, and is particularly important for pediatric patients, as well as for those who are immobile or very sick.  

Dynamic UNIQUE is a second-generation multiscale image enhancement that provides a high level of detail, according to the diagnostic need, in real time. Each single frame is fully processed, without significant additional computation time (below 14 ms for fluoroscopy, below 55 ms for exposures), even at high frame rates (up to 30 fps). Therefore, the diagnostically important image content is optimally enhanced according to the clinical task. Dynamic UNIQUE features a perfect harmonization of areas filled with contrast agent, soft tissue, and bones, even in challenging viewing conditions with large variations in tissue radio-density. Contrary to traditional multiscale enhancement algorithms, Dynamic UNIQUE processing strictly separates global and local contrast enhancement, preventing undesired enhancement artifacts. If desired it is easily customizable according to the diagnostic need.

Optimal representation and visibility of diagnostically important information results in an enhancement of diagnostic details, such as small vessels and catheters, without enhancement artifacts or image clipping. A lessened risk to miss important details leads to an increase in diagnostic confidence.

When patients present to the ER complaining of abdominal pain, finding the root cause quickly can be challenging using conventional images.

IQon Spectral CT consistently captures spectral information without special planning or set-up. In this case of a middle-aged female presenting to the ER complaining of abdominal pain, an abdomen/pelvis scan was ordered. The patient was scanned on the IQon Spectral CT.

Upon reviewing the conventional CT, the clinician noted that the pancreatic duct appeared to be dilated, but they could not identify the cause from the conventional images. The scan was immediately reviewed using Spectral Magic Glass, which allowed the radiologist to view five different spectral results without changing his workflow. Upon review of the various results, the clinician identified a lesion in the head of the pancreas and the patient was referred for an endoscopic ultrasound biopsy. That pathology report identified a tubular adenoma of the Ampulla of Vater.