Angiography System Software Offers Whole Image in One Sweep

Due to a new software application, an angiography system can now rotate 360° in six seconds, generating computed tomography (CT)-like slice images with a field-of-view (FOV) of 35 by 25 cm.

The syngo DynaCT 360 software from Siemens speeds up rotational angiography Siemens Healthcare (Erlangen, Germany) presents a new feature for Artis zeego, the only interventional imaging system on the market utilizing robotic technology.

Up to now, the C-arm has taken 16 seconds to achieve such extensive soft tissue coverage, as is necessary for abdominal interventions. An exposure time reduced by more than one half brings a number of advantages: it is now unnecessary for the patients to hold their breath for so long during the exposure, and the images are subject to fewer motion artifacts. Furthermore, the physician generally needs to administer less contrast agent. Syngo DynaCT 360 is one of the innovations of Siemens Healthcare’s recently announced the Agenda 2013 investment program.

The syngo DynaCT 360 software is a further development of syngo DynaCT, a Siemens developed technology that creates CT-like slice images from the approximately 400 images made during a rotational angiography, and displays them on screen in the angiography suite while the intervention is still in progress. Especially in the case of unexpected complications during the intervention and also for immediate follow-up, this enables physicians to arrive at a precise diagnosis without needing to transfer the patient to the CT suite.

Compared with syngo DynaCT, syngo DynaCT 360 has a larger FOV: the volume of a patient’s anatomy recorded during a rotation now measures 35 by 25 cm. Moreover, the new application can record the FOV about twice as fast as before, thereby reducing motion artifacts on the images. Due to the shorter recording time, patients do not need to hold their breath for as long. Furthermore, the examination requires less contrast agent and patients can be exposed to less radiation.

During therapy, the large FOV offered by syngo DynaCT 360 makes it possible to visualize entire organs, such as the lungs and liver, as well as tumors, including their tumor-supplying vessels. For example, the large FOV is advantageous if the liver is already enlarged, or the patient is adipose. Moreover, the high quality of the soft tissue imaging facilitates needle guidance, biopsies, or ablations, e.g., by radiofrequency or microwave.

Syngo DynaCT 360 runs on Artis zeego, part of Siemens’ Artis-zee family of interventional imaging systems.

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