ADAC focuses on clinical refinements

At last year's Society of Nuclear Medicine meeting, ADAC Laboratoriesof Milpitas, CA, entered the conference with two new gamma camerasand a new positron imaging technique to publicize. Cardio Epicbuttressed the vendor's position with cardiologists while SolusEpic gave ADAC a low-cost price point in the opposable-angle segment.Meanwhile, molecular coincidence detection (MCD) broke new groundin high-energy imaging (SCAN 6/21/95).

This year, ADAC's focus is on refining the clinical and outcomesperformance of its existing cameras, according to Ian Farmer,senior vice president and general manager of ADAC's nuclear medicinebusiness. R&D efforts have been devoted to MCD and ADAC'sVantage non-uniform attenuation correction technique, which wasalso introduced at a previous SNM meeting.

The company will feature progress with FDG-SPECT imaging foroncological applications using MCD. The camera's count rate hasbeen doubled to two million counts per second by adopting a thickersodium iodide crystal and by modifying detector electronics andsoftware, Farmer said. Consequently, the modified detector canproduce images superior to older versions of MCD in procedurestaking about half the time.

"We are seeing excellent definition of internal body structures,a good outline of the patient, and greatly improved depictionof tumors," he said.

Food and Drug Administration 510(k) clearance for MCD was securedin November 1995. MCD will be available on Solus Epic or Vertexplatforms. The specialized cameras are in use at Emory Universityin Atlanta and the VA Hospital of West Los Angeles. Four moresystems will be installed as the company embarks on a multicentertrial to quantify their clinical performance, Farmer said.

On the conventional nuclear medicine front, ADAC will introduceExSpect, a software package that combines previous work on non-uniformattenuation correction with scatter correction and resolutionrecovery techniques. Developed in collaboration with Emory University,ExSpect improves specificity, especially in cardiac imaging, byremoving scatter noise from the energy window and by adjustingfor resolution variations relating to the geometry of the collimator,Farmer said.

ExSpect is a work-in-progress designed for the Vertex variable-angledual-head and Cardio Epic. The product is not subject to FDA review.Commercial introduction is anticipated in late 1996.