The U.S. FDA has cleared the Biograph Vision, a new PET/CT system from Siemens Healthineers that delivers advanced precision in PET/CT imaging. Further, the Biograph Vision features new Optiso Ultra Dynamic Range Detector Technology, which is based on silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs), rather than the photomultiplier tubes that have been the industry standard.
In fact, this new system design enables Siemens Healthineers to reduce the detector’s lutetium oxyorthosilicate crystal elements from 4 x 4 mm to 3.2 x 3.2 mm, resulting in higher spatial resolution.
Utilizing these small LSO crystals and covering 100% of the area of the scintillator array with SiPMs, the Biograph Vision is designed to deliver fast time-of-flight (ToF), with a temporal resolution of just 249 picoseconds, as well as a sensitivity at 84 cps/kBq. For these reasons, the Biograph Vision helps to reduce scan time by a factor of 3.9 to improve patient throughput, as well as reduce patient radiation exposure and tracer cost.
The Biograph Vision also has a large 78-cm bore that offers 24% more space than a 70-cm bore. This larger bore can reduce patient anxiety, in addition to enabling easier positioning for radiotherapy devices or bariatric patients. Additionally, the Biograph Vision offers optional features to improve the quality of patient care. FlowMotion Multiparametric Suite, an automated solution for whole-body parametric PET exams, provides not just the standard uptake volume, but also information regarding metabolic glucose rate and distribution volume.
This information helps clinicians differentiate between non-metabolized and metabolized fluorodeoxyglucose in the patient. OncoFreeze and CardioFreeze provide PET/CT images that are virtually free of motion in the same period of time as a regular whole-body scan, helping to improve lesion conspicuity, delineation, and quantification compared to images acquired without these features.
“The Biograph Vision represents a major leap in performance beyond any PET/CT system previously manufactured,” says Jim Williams, PhD, head of Siemens Healthineers Molecular Imaging. “With this system, we extend the boundaries of PET imaging and help our customers explore a new frontier in precision medicine.”
