The past several years, interventions using ultrasound for real-time image monitoring in diagnostic and therapeutic procedures have increasingly been integrated into the daily clinical routine. Limitations due to image-distorting physical effects, such as the total reflection at the soft tissue/lung boundary, are associated with the use of ultrasound. CT fluoroscopy on the other hand enables…
The Netherlands - September '00 - A good example of one of the discussions was the general issue of dose reduction. All participants agreed that it would be a challenge to be able to realise this, although this should definitely not interfere with the image quality. An interesting challenge for the users as well as the manufacturers! Many interesting topics were presented during the seminar, of…
Case 1 50-year-old male with a colorectal cancer. Greyscale imaging clearly shows the lesion, as an echogenic 3 cm mass (Fig.l a), which must be considered as suspicious for a metastasis from his colorectal cancer but benefit of the doubt must be given. Colour Doppler (Fig. 1b) is not helpful. At 33 seconds after SonoVue injection (early sinusoidal phase), Vascular Recognition Imaging (VRI)…
Image quality has been the most important criterion in CT scanner development for both radiologists and manufacturers, due to the diagnostic value of these systems. Recently, considerable concern has been expressed about the radiation dose to patients from CT examinations because: - CT delivers a higher dose than conventional film-screen examinations - Technological advances in CT have…
65-year-old woman who had an aorta dissection in 1994. The ascending aorta and thearcus were replaced. In 2000, the patient underwent descendes replacement after suffering from an aneurysm. The patient was referred to the Aquilion 16 slice for evaluation of the aorta and measurement of the remaining aorta.
In recent years, interventional procedures using realtime image control by means of Ultrasound have been increasingly integrated into the clinical routine as diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. However, a series of limitations in ultrasound result tram physical effects that interfere with the image. Combining fluoroscopy with a computed tomograph (CT) results in a procedure that enables…
Two university hospitals in Germany and Japan were the first worldwide to receive the Aquilion 16 high resolution computed tomograph (CT) from Toshiba Medical Systems for simultaneous recording of 16 body slices with extremely high image resolution. A computed tomography Aquilion 16 was put into operation on October 7, 2002 at the central campus of Charite Berlin (Figure 1). This is the third…
The Medway Maritime Hospital, Gillingham in Kent is an acute general hospital with a catchment population of 340,000 and has a very busy multi-specialized radiology department undertaking about 160,000 examinations a year. The department has recently acquired a new Toshiba Aquilion Multi-slice CT scanner. With this came the opportunity and demand to increase its use particularly outside normal…
Multislice computed tomography (MS CT), which was introduced to clinical imaging as fourslice detectors in 1998 has fully proven its superior performance over conventional scanner technology. For example, it provides optimized resolution of detail and increased scan speed. Simultaneously, this technology has opened new indications for computed tomography, for example, in heart imaging. However,…
In May 2001, the world's first CT-XR hybrid suite for image guided therapy in paediatrics was put into operation. The new Centre for Image Guided Therapy (IGT) at The Hospital for Sick Children allows surgeons and interventional radiologists to do something that's never been done before - work side-by-side when diagnosing and treating children. A total of 4 interventional suites were equipped…
In Johns Hopkins therapeutic radiology, we perform 2,600 procedures in neurointervention and 14,000 peripheral interventions each year, totalling over 16,000 image-guided procedures a year in 14 rooms. We changed our approach to image guided therapy in June 2001, when we installed a new O.5 mm multidector CT (Aquilion, Toshiba America Medical Systems) and two 3D visualization workstations (Vital…
An interview with Dr. Ulrich Thalacker on the work carried out by Baden-Wuerttemberg's only practice administering radiotherapy, based on computerassisted 3D therapy planning and 'unconventional' use of a CT scanner as a module of the radiation planning system.
Because of the rapid technical and scientific development over the past few years, multislice computer tomography of the heart has become increasingly established in the clinical routine. This requires, among other things, knowledge of the anatomy of the coronary arteries, the meaningful evaluation of the calcium score and the appropriate reproduction of the function of the left ventricle.
Further developments in computer and detection technology over the last few months and years have made it possible to overcome, to a large degree, the previously limitations of medical computer tomography in spatial and temporal resolution, and thus to permit “detail-true” representation of the beating heart. The diagnostic workflow and computer-tomographic diagnosis of the heart using the…
Pediatric imaging presents many unique and difficult challenges to the radiologist. Correct and rapid diagnosis is extremely important in pediatric imaging and to that end we constantly strive for tests that offer more information, accuracy and versatility. However, it is also our duty to provide tests that are safe and minimise exposure to ionizing radiation. In recent months there has been…
With the launch of the Aquilion 32, Toshiba Medical Systems Corporation continues at the forefront of computed tomography (CT) technology. The most advanced 32-slice CT scanner available, the Aquilion provides increased patient comfort and the most flexible choice of speed and accuracy in CT scanning.
The number of CT examinations undertaken over the past few years has increased remarkably worldwide due to the new diagnostic possibilities afforded by multislice computer tomography (MSCT). As the new technology is gaining ground, many researchers and radiologists are looking for ways to reduce patient radiation exposure. In 2001, Giacomuzzi et al.1 of Innsbruck reported an up to 2.6-fold…
Twenty years ago, during the construction of the Henri Duffaut Hospital in the community of Avignon, on the banks of the Durance, we transferred our radiology service at the Hospital St. Marthe (today the University Centre of Avignon, classified as a historical monument by the government) to the first floor of the new hospital. Over the years, our service has been restructured and adapted to the…
Increasingly more importance is being ascribed to early detection of colon carcinoma and of its precursor stages, since there has been a practically twofold increase in the incidence of this disease in Germany over the past 20 years. With a combination of 1. case history, 2. rectal palpation result, 3.'blood in stools' test (haemoccult) and 4. coloscopy, many conspicuous changes to the intestinal…
Xario, Toshiba's new ultrasound system, has been tested at the Charité University Hospital, Berlin, by Dr Thomas Fischer, radiologist and ultrasound specialist. In a VISIONS interview, we asked Dr Fischer for his observations.
The exposure of patients to radiation by computed tomography has been widely discussed in recent years, both by professionals and by the public. The essential reason for optimizing patient exposure is the basic desire to keep radiation dose at the lowest possible level. This requires above all organ-specific and patient-specific adjustment of the radiation exposure in order to achieve uniform…
On Wednesday, 24 March of this year, I arrived in Warsaw, Poland, where my Polish colleague, Mr Sikora, picked me up and we continued our bumpy road to Katowice by car. The roads were bad and the weather was worse: snow, snow and more snow. But finally we made it to Gornoslaskie Centrum Medyczne in Katowice, where the first Asteion Super 4 had been installed in a European hospital. It is the…
The Aquilion 64 builds on previous CT technology with its unique 64-slice detector, isotropic scanning and VolumeView volume reconstruction technology to offer greater diagnostic capabilities enabling patients to avoid invasive medical procedures. The Aquilion 64 demonstrates Toshiba's in-depth industry knowledge and desire to deliver leading-edge CT technology and applications to the medical…
Due to echogenicity differences in comparison with the surrounding liver tissue conventional B-mode-imaging sonography permits the unambiguous classification of the frequently occurring typical liver cysts (criteria: round, echo-free, smoothly demarcated, with edge shadows and sound through transmission) and calcifications (highly reflective, acoustic shadows). The detection and characterization…
With an innovative technique called multiplexing, the data collection speed of CT scanners may increase by hundreds of times with the result of better and faster imaging and potentially lower x-ray exposures.