Regulatory hurdles are behind the three major CT vendors, and the industry is moving nearly in lockstep to produce a commercial 16-slice capability in the coming months. The companies reported at the RSNA meeting FDA clearance of proprietary 16-slice technologies that will bolster speed and resolution by true volumetric reconstruction.
Siemens¹ Sensation 16, previously dubbed x32 because the detector would generate 32 slices per second, cleared reviewers just days before the 2001 meeting. GE also announced FDA clearance of its 16-slice LightSpeed detector. Marconi¹s Infinite Detector Technology had passed FDA muster in September. (The company was then absorbed by Philips, which inherited a leading role in the CT market segment by virtue of the newly rebranded Mx8000.) Toshiba America remains back in the pack, showcasing a work-in-progress 16-slice detector and a futuristic 256-slice detector that is years away from production.
This seemingly frenetic pace of developmentboth technological and corporateis actually more like a marathon than a sprint. Marconi, Philips, and Siemens have been leading customers on for more than a year with promises of 16-slice scanners. Only GE bolted, focusing instead at the 2000 RSNA meeting on an intermediate eight-slice scanner, which the company delivered earlier this year and touted at this year¹s meeting as the most advanced capability in hand. Some 158 units are already operating, executives said.
They may have a point. Although Philips, Siemens, and Toshiba highlighted their 16-slice technologies, no one is ready to begin shipping them. That will not happen until later in 2002.
GE Medical Systems
Company executives have hammered for years on their concept of an upgradable continuum of CT scanners. This year¹s swarm of 16-slice works-in-progress by competitors played into GE¹s hands.
LightSpeed Ultra, an eight-slice version of the company¹s multislice CT, was GE¹s chosen highlight, even though this system was announced a year ago and 158 are in commercial operation. The availability of this system was the point, as GE executives cited competitors whose latest unveilings have been works-in-progress for two RSNA meetings running.
A 16-slice version of LightSpeed cleared the FDA prior to the meeting.
OptiDose sports several new dose-reducing features, including preloaded pediatric protocols that use color coding tied to a child¹s height and weight to ensure minimal x-ray exposure. SmartmA Enhanced, which will begin shipping around April 2002, uses a scout exam to tailor dose to variations in body thickness and shape. Other elements of OptiDose include artifact reduction algorithms to improve image quality at the lowest possible dose, as well as prospective ECG gating to help reduce dose during cardiac applications.
Expanded clinical applications include CT colonography and Heart IQ, which provides several core cardiac applications such as assessment of the left ventricle and wall function. Lung nodule assessment, a capability that cleared the FDA just prior to the meeting, allows volumetric evaluation of suspicious lesions.
The deal to acquire Imatron, maker of electron beam tomography scanners, appeared on track. The waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976 expired in mid-November.
Philips Medical Systems
Usually, companies upgrade equipment. It was the other way around for the Mx8000, which transformed Philips from a noncompetitor in the multislice segment to a world leader. In addition to technology, Philips gained critical engineering expertise and a strategic alliance with Siemens from its acquisition of Marconi Medical Systems.
Mx8000 was shown in its 16-slice configuration. The heart of this product, Infinite Detector Technology (IDT), passed FDA review in September. The gantry has been upgraded to allow better than half-second rotation, thereby delivering 38 slices per second. An application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) chip, called Tach, converts analog data coming off the detector to digital and then rapidly transfers the data to the computer.
Images can be displayed on the MxView workstation or Philips¹ own EasyVision multimodality workstation.
Clinical expansion possiblities with the 16-slice Mx8000 include volumetric lung and heart scanning, as well as soft plaque assessment and virtual endoscopy of the coronary vessels.
Development has stopped on Philips¹ TrueView multislice detector, as attention shifts to how knowledge gained during this R&D effort might enhance the evolution of the Mx8000 and its IDT.
Secura CT, a single-slice scanner introduced at the 2000 RSNA meeting, will likely be phased out. The scanner originally was positioned as a platform on which the Philips multislice detector would be mounted. With no such detector on the horizon and demand for single-slice scanners waning, this system has lost its place in the Philips product line.
