“There are lots of tools to manipulate the data and manage the image better to see the entire patient and make an accurate diagnosis the first time,” Noll said. The 3D rendering and motion reduction and correction improve image quality while cutting acquisition time in half, according to Noll.
Users can apply shifts, rotations, and magnification transformations to the registrations and conduct manual correction if needed. Volumetrix IR permits physicians to use the Hawkeye 4 data to automatically register SPECT/CT exams acquired at different times for simultaneous, synchronized study comparison as well as register SPECT studies to CT DICOM volumes (or the “CT of choice,” Noll said) in the proper format. Using Volumetrix 3D, physicians can create interactive 3D volume-rendered images of SPECT/CT and SPECT/PET studies include objects of interest or remove obstructions for easier visualization using automatic and segmentation tools and export 3D visualizations in a variety of standardized formats, such as jpg, tiff, and avi.
Its two applications include Volumetrix 3D, which integrates 3D visualization into the nuclear medicine workflow, and Volumetrix IR, which permits registration of CT studies to SPECT images.
This summer GE Healthcare will launch Volumetrix Suite, a software solution using advanced algorithms and faster PC computing that expands the capabilities of the GE Infinia Hawkeye 4, a SPECT/CT hybrid system. Software is one area where advances can result in significant improvements in image acquisition and quality. “SPECT is an old familiar dog, but it has a lot of new tricks ahead of it yet,” Juni said. Yet, newer developments in SPECT technology have overcome these challenges and resulted in advances that hold promise for both the technology and patients. “As patient size becomes an issue, a larger field of view is a challenge,” said Ron Noll, nuclear medicine marketing manager for GE Healthcare, Waukesha, Wis. “There is soft tissue attenuation and overlying noncardiac activity, such as the diaphragm and the bowels, that can get in the way of the heart,” Fish said.Īnd, as in many other areas of medicine, obesity presents another obstacle. “If they move during that time, and many people do, it can blur the image and cause artifacts that look like abnormalities,” Juni said.Ĭardiac imaging also can be challenged by anatomy. Invariably, there is some movement that can negatively impact the quality of the images. Patients are required to lie still, on their backs, with their arms overhead for anywhere from 15 minutes to a half-hour. The traditional method of acquisition has also been problematic. “The ability of the detector to resolve spatial details-the sharpness of the image-is affected by the detector and collimation, which acts as the lens for the camera,” Juni said.
Resolution has not historically been optimal in SPECT, a situation attributed in part to the technology as well as the available radiopharmaceuticals and dosing limitations. They’ve all moved away from photo tubes toward a more digital format rather than analog,” said Mathews Fish, MD, medical director of nuclear medicine at Sacred Heart Medical Center in Eugene, Ore.
“Other than the intrinsic problems having to do with the sensitivity of the crystals and what kind of collimator is used, right now, the standard cameras are all about the same.
The device utilized a gamma camera, versions of which are still in use today. Kuhl, MD, and Roy Edwards the work also helped give birth to PET. SPECT equipment emerged from the Mark II single-photon-emission tomographic scanner developed in the 1960s by David E. In addition, SPECT avoids some of the issues that are problematic in other modalities, such as the expense of MRI or the high radiation doses associated with CT. Juni attributes this transformation to new developments in SPECT that are doubling or tripling its resolution while reducing the time needed to acquire images. “But we think that SPECT has a reason to move into the limelight again.” “Familiarity breeds contempt, and SPECT hasn’t changed a lot compared to the razzle-dazzle of new technology,” said Jack Edward Juni, MD, FACNP, chairman and chief technical officer of CardiArc Inc, Canton, Mich. Having made only incremental improvements over the years, SPECT has paled next to flashier modalities, such as CT, MRI, and PET. New developments in cardiac SPECT improve image quality, reduce acquisition time, and increase its appeal for physicians.įor some time, the medical field has viewed SPECT as the familiar, but less exciting, approach to diagnosing heart disease.