Philips unveils CT dose reduction package

Over the last several months, Philips has been dropping hints that the company would unveil at RSNA 2009 a high-powered technique for cutting CT dose. The company did not disappoint, unveiling iDose, its proprietary version of iterative reconstruction. The new package will not be available, however, until the second half of 2010, at which time it will ship on newly built Brilliance iCT and 64-channel scanners. A field upgrade will also be available to the installed base.

Company executives say the new software can cut CT dose to patients by up to 80% under some conditions. It was designed to deliver images that have the same look as conventionally processed images whose data are acquired at a much higher dose. A new RapidView IR console enables reconstruction 20 times faster than current hardware, according to the company. Because iDose works in the background, it requires no special training.