GE Healthcare Announces PET/CT System Designed to Boost Patient Comfort

With the increasing cost pressures faced by healthcare providers around the world, GE Healthcare is announcing the Optima PET/CT 560, an innovative scanner designed to address the demands of today’s healthcare environment, combining superb image quality, high productivity and a patient friendly experience that can continuously deliver ongoing value over time. The Optima PET/CT 560 offers efficiency and investment protection with the capability to grow with the future needs of the clinical practice.

“First to market with PET/CT, GE Healthcare continues its excellence with the Optima PET/CT 560,” said Vivek Bhatt, general manager, PET/CT GE Healthcare. “We are continuously investing in the latest technology to support the growing needs of clinicians to reduce cost, improve quality and provide patients with greater access to the latest healthcare technology. That’s why GE Healthcare’s Optima PET/CT 560 stands out because it helps enable clinical confidence with small lesion detectability and offers a simplified and streamlined workflow, affordability and flexibility.”

Patients first experience - Low dose and 2m scan range
From the uninterrupted full head to toe exam to the remarkable dose reduction features, the Optima PET/CT 560 was designed to help physicians put patients’ needs first.
The Optima PET/CT 560 enables a full 2 meter scan range-especially important when imaging skin and bone. Clinicians can complete a full head-to-toe-scan in one pass for greater patient comfort and convenience, and position taller patients on the table with greater ease, thus saving up to 15 minutes per exam by eliminating patient repositioning and potentially boosting scanning efficiency and patient throughput.

Advanced GE VUE Point HD intelligent 3D iterative reconstruction technique enhances resolution for uncompromised image quality that helps enable clinicians to confidently detect small lesions and increase quantitative accuracy.

Based on the Broselow-Luten† Pediatric system, GE Healthcare’s default PET/CT protocols are specifically designed to help reduce CT radiation exposure in FDG pediatric exams to meet ALARA (As Low as Reasonably Achieveable) guidelines. With an intuitive GE developed interface dedicated to pediatric examinations, physicians select from color-coded protocols set in advance to suit a child’s specific weight.

In addition, the Optima PET/CT 560 uses a 3D modulation algorithm which automatically adjusts the mA as clinicians scan along the x-y-z axes.  The modulation maintains CT image quality, yet dose is reduced up to 40%. 

Strong investment value

The Optima PET/CT 560 is built for growth, thus delivering a strong investment value as the system is fully upgradeable to the GE Healthcare Discovery* PET/CT 600 series as department needs grow and change.  Available in 8-slice or 16-slice configurations, the Optima PET/CT 560 can be operated as a standalone CT scanner. With its exceptional power, remarkable speed, high-resolution and low-dose imaging, and full diagnostic capabilities, it can help increase patient imaging volumes and revenues.

Not only were GE Healthcare PET/CT systems rated #1 in system reliability by IMV in 2010, they are backed by one of the largest and most experienced service forces to help reduce failures and interruptions to patient flow by keeping a system up and scanning.  Overall GE Healthcare has been rated #1 in more service categories than any other manufacturer for five years straight, according to the 2010 IMV ServiceTrak report.***

GE Healthcare’s InSite* OnWatch remote service moves form detection to prediction, by constantly analyzing data to potentially eliminate faults before they occur. With iLinq* instant help, clinicians can quickly connect to one of the biggest and most skilled service forces anywhere for fast answers to question about a system’s performance, applications, training or support.

Simple and efficient workflow + high productivity
Operators of the Optima PET/CT 560 will appreciate the simplicity of the workflow.  The user interface is simplified for fast exam set-up and the compact and ergonomic operators console is designed for flexibility and comfort of the operator. Starting with pre-scan and straight through to post-processing, the Optima PET/CT 560 can help make the entire scanning experience streamlined and efficient.  Daily Quality Assurance at the start of the scanning day is quick and efficient with one button push and less than 10 minutes a day all with no additional exposure to the staff with the GE automated source loader. Fast reconstruction times deliver images to clinicians sooner, allowing decision-making before a patient is even off the table.

*Trademark of General Electric Company
***ServiceTrak is a trademark of IMV, Ltd
+Broselow-Luten The Color Coding Kids Hospital System is a standardized therapeutic system whose goal is to increase safety, efficiency and comfort level whenever and wherever children receive medical treatment both by health care professionals and the lay public.