Discovery PET/CT 600 scanner
The Discovery PET/CT 600 scanner, manufactured by GE Healthcare, merges two imaging technologies, positron emission tomography (PET) and computed tomography (CT), into one machine for a single imaging session.
Motion from respiration, the beating heart, and patient movement impact image quality and quantitative accuracy. The motion-free platform of this machine allows our physicians to accurately identify multiple small lesions near those areas affected by movement.
Cancer Treatment Centers of America at Southwestern Regional Medical Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma is the first hospital in North America to have this powerful machine.
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A standard PET/CT scanner merges both PET and CT capabilities into one machine to identify abnormal tissue and its location. However, standard scanners often overlook small lesions because of motion caused by the respiratory cycle, the beating heart, or patient movement.
The GE Discovery PET/CT 600 scanner can detect lesions down to 2.8 mm and better delineate boundaries, thus finding cancerous tissue earlier and saving viable tissue from radiation exposure. The scanner also has respiratory gating capabilities, adding detail and clarity to areas that are subject to motion, such as the heart and lungs.
At the appointment, the patient will first receive a radiopharmaceutical injection, which takes about 60-90 minutes to distribute itself throughout the body.
The patient then lies on a table that moves slowly through a ring-like scanner as it acquires the information it needs to generate PET and CT images. The patient shouldn't feel anything during the scan, which can last from 15 - 60 minutes.
The motion-free platform of this scanner allows physicians to accurately identify multiple small lesions in areas affected by movement. The physician can review these detailed images after the scan is completed. In addition, the scanner has software that memorizes and overlays lesions so differences can be detected from appointment to appointment.
The Discovery PET/CT 600 Scanner’s many capabilities include: respiratory gating capabilities, improved lesion detectability down to 2 mm, boundary delineation to save viable tissue from radiation exposure, a large 70 cm bore that offers a full field of view, a patient table that accommodates up to 500 lbs, 2-4 times faster reconstructions, software that memorizes and overlays lesions to detect differences over time.