FDA clears Siemens LSO hybrid camera

The nuclear medicine group of Siemens Medical Systems received Food and Drug Administration clearance last month for a version of its E.Cam gamma camera that uses hybrid PET/SPECT detectors made from lutetium oxyortho-silicate and sodium iodide (LSO/NaI). The Hoffman Estates, IL, division developed the hybrid system in collaboration with R&D partner CTI of Nashville. It featured the unit at last month’s Society of Nuclear Medicine conference in Toronto (SCAN Special Report June 1998). Siemens hopes the hybrid detectors will enable nuclear medicine physicians to image radioisotopes at both low and high energy ranges, making the camera equally suitable for either SPECT or PET studies.