Molecular MR/PET System Provides More Effective Diagnosis

The world’s first fully integrated whole-body molecular magnetic resonance (mMR) imaging system with simultaneous magnetic resonance (MR) and positron emission tomography (PET) imaging has, for the first time, been delivered to a Germany private practice imaging center. The first four systems of this kind have been used to date in university hospitals and research centers with a focus on clinical research.

The German private practice MRI, Nuclear Medicine and PET/CT Center Bremen Central (MRT- Nuklearmedizin- und PET/CT-Zentrum Bremen Mitte; Bremen, Germany) has commissioned Siemens Healthcare (Erlangen, Germany) to supply a Biograph mMR. This represents the first use of the system by a private practice for the routine examination of patients.

The special feature of the 3-Tesla hybrid system named Biograph mMR is that it combines two important imaging techniques in one system: PET and MRI. There are a number of significant differences between the ways in which these two techniques function, but they both supply mutually complementary data about diseases. Whereas an MR system can produce images of the human anatomy at millimeter-scale resolution, a PET scanner is particularly useful for studying the metabolism of cells.

In addition to its spatial and temporal precision, the Biograph mMR offers the unique advantage of being able to acquire simultaneously MR and PET images of the whole body in about 30 minutes. Previously, two separate examinations were required, after which the two images would be combined--a time-consuming process with reduced accuracy, because patients and their organs always move, however slightly, between examinations. Simultaneous imaging by the Biograph mMR therefore enables a more precise diagnosis and is also more comfortable for patients, since they only have to be examined once.

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