Siemens Introduces Advanced Clinical Applications For Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Chicago - Focusing on the powerful combination of Tim (Total imaging matrix) technology and syngo applications, Siemens Medical Solutions showcased its advanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) applications at the 91st Scientific Assembly and Annual Meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA). From spinal to breast imaging and body diffusion techniques to remote assistance, Siemens' MRI leads the industry with advancements that are helping medical professionals improve the delivery of healthcare.

"As an innovation leader in MRI, Siemens is constantly enhancing its portfolio of clinical applications, helping the clinician achieve faster, more accurate diagnostic workflow," said Nancy Gillen, vice president, MRI Division, Siemens Medical Solutions. "Tim-powered applications have brought medical imaging to the next level by allowing doctors to detect and diagnose disease states earlier, offer more treatment options, and increase workflow and efficiency."

Innovative Applications

During RSNA 2005, Siemens will showed the capabilities of syngo Expert-i* with two live scans each day of the show. These syngo Expert-i demonstration scans will be conducted in real-time from the University of California - Los Angeles and Northwestern University in Chicago, allowing visitors to experience the advantages of remote assistance. syngo Expert-i gives physicians and experts the ability to interact remotely during the MRI examination from virtually anywhere, making it possible to address difficult clinical questions via a networked personal computer while a patient is being scanned. The entire patient set-up, imaging data and all sequences can be viewed in real-time, requiring less training while improving efficiency, quality and throughput.

Other Siemens MRI solutions highlighted at RSNA include:

• syngo SPACE - Providing fast and more accurate 3D imaging with contrasts, SPACE is ideal for complex spine, head, inner ear, abdomen and pelvis cases, replacing multiple 2D acquisitions. With the combination of SPACE and Tim's Parallel Imaging capabilities, medical professionals are able to identify small plaques with higher confidence as well as survey the brain in less than five minutes with isotropic resolution. It is also ideal for spinal foramina examination.
• syngo SWI - Siemens is the only medical solutions provider offering Susceptibility Weighted Imaging (SWI), a technique that reveals blood products and venous structures with great clarity in a matter of minutes. This allows for better depiction of bleeding in stroke and brain trauma patients, visualization of contusions and shearing injuries, and identification of minute intracranial vascular malformations.
• syngo REVEAL - REVEAL, a body diffusion technique, provides additional information for differentiation of lesions throughout the entire body, offering high sensitivity to potential malignant lesions. This technique provides functional information about primary and metastatic tumors with great image quality. With Tim, examinations can be done locally and can extended to other organs without coil or patient repositioning.
• syngo GRAPPA - GRAPPA, a Parallel Imaging Technique that provides robust image quality, speeds up spine imaging for patients with severe back pain or small children. Providing high temporal resolution in cardiac imaging even in double oblique orientations, GRAPPA is capable of being used with a small field-of-view with high spatial resolution for higher diagnostic confidence - even smaller than the subject's anatomy.

Women's Health and MRI

MRI is an integral part of breast imaging, providing not only increased visualization of the extent of lesions but also the involvement of ductal structures. With an estimated 211,240 new breast cancer cases expected to occur and a prediction of 40,410 related deaths in the U.S. this year, the need for earlier detection is evident. Siemens' MAGNETOM MRI systems and software make the process of imaging and evaluation easy-to-use, fast and reliable.

"MRI has the ability to serve as another option in screening for cancers as it is essentially uninfluenced by breast density, unlike traditional mammography," said Gillen. "This improves the doctor's ability to identify breast cancer and administer treatment at an early stage, ultimately saving more lives."

As part of the standard configuration, Tim Breast Suite includes dedicated protocols in various orientations, providing image assessment in any plane and increasing diagnostic confidence with techniques such as bilateral VIEWS. DynaCAD provides radiologists with Siemens-optimized computer-aided diagnostic tools to assist doctors in detecting disease earlier and streamline workflow by managing the large volume of images involved in today's studies. The integrated solution of DynaCAD and Siemens' MRI systems is distributed by Siemens on a worldwide basis for all MAGNETOM MRI users.

Powerful Imaging Systems

Siemens MRI systems featured at RSNA include the MAGNETOM Trio, the first 3 Tesla (3T) whole-body MRI with Tim, opening new doors to clinical applications including abdominal, cardiac, spine, whole-body and orthopedic. Also shown is the MAGNETOM Espree, the world's only open bore 1.5T MRI system - also equipped with Tim - that offers more room than the traditional MRI. This is the only system to adequately address issues related to obesity, claustrophobia, elderly and pediatric patients, while capturing high-field 1.5T quality diagnostic images. Siemens' Tim technology is the first seamless, whole body surface coil design that combines up to 102 seamlessly integrated coil elements with up to 32 RF Channels, opening the door to the most advanced clinical applications available today. Tim technology enables flexible coil combinations to encompass local high resolution imaging to large anatomical coverage up to 205 cm (6'9"), while other systems require the radiologist to change coils and reposition the patient three times for a whole-body MRI procedure.

SOURCE: Siemens Medical Solutions