CT Low-Dose Centers of Excellence Program Expanded

Four healthcare institutions are collaborating with an international company for the better optimization of patient radiation dose.

Siemens Healthcare (Erlangen, Germany) has expanded of its Low-Dose Centers of Excellence program for computed tomography (CT). Four healthcare institutions are now collaborating with Siemens in the development of best-in-class clinical processes and protocols with the goal to reduce patient CT radiation dose, benefit patient outcomes, and optimize clinical operations.

Low-Dose Centers of Excellence represent leading healthcare facilities that are pioneering radiation dose reduction in CT. Initiated by Siemens in 2010, the CT Low-Dose Centers of Excellence program is deemed a gold standard for academic-industry partnerships, according to company spokespersons. Elkhart General Hospital (IN, USA), the most recent healthcare institution to have signed the Centers of Excellence framework agreement, joins Anne Arundel Medical Center (Annapolis, MD, USA); Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center (Richmond, VA, USA); and University of Minnesota Medical Center (Fairview, MN, USA).

“University of Minnesota Medical Center, Fairview continues to benefit from our ongoing collaboration with Siemens in the area of patient dose reduction, enabling us to reduce CT dose by more than 30%,” said Uma S. Valeti, MD, FACC, associate professor of medicine and director of cardiovascular imaging. “Our collaboration with Siemens has allowed us to balance patient needs with access to cutting-edge technology and procedures to deliver optimal patient outcomes.”

“The Siemens Centers of Excellence program is the original blueprint for developing collaborations for radiation dose reduction benchmarks, and Siemens is proud to partner with institutions on their journey of low-dose CT imaging,” said Kulin Hemani, US vice president of CT, Siemens Healthcare. “Our goal is to provide higher education to help all of our customers enhance workflow, provide positive patient outcomes, and benefit from our innovative dose reduction technology for years to come.”

Siemens applies its CARE (combined applications to reduce exposure) wide-ranging application to all areas of diagnostic and interventional imaging.

Care kV, a recent addition to Siemens’ dose reduction product range, selects the precise tube voltage depending on the patient’s anatomy and the organ to be imaged, with all other parameters automatically adjusted to the suitable selected kV level. Care kV optimizes the contrast-to-noise ratio of the image and enables dose savings of up to 60%. Siemens’ SAFIRE (sinogram-affirmed iterative reconstruction) software provides considerable dose reduction in a wide clinical spectrum, providing excellent image quality and improved workflow. In clinical practice, the use of SAFIRE may reduce CT patient dose depending on the clinical task, patient size, anatomic location, and clinical practice.

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