Innovate
Photon CT changing the CT Scan Space Team IMT
with higher spatial resolution at lower radiation dose.
Key Difference between CT and Photon Counting Techniques The CT scan systems in the healthcare infrastructure
include
solid-state
scintillation detectors. The regular CT scan takes two steps to deliver the results, the first step includes conversion of absorbed X-rays into visible light, and then the light is converted into an electrical signal. The results consider the accumulation of thousands of X-ray photons collected gradually and measured as a whole. Distinctively, technology Naeotom Alpha is the world’s first photon-counting CT scanner. (Courtesy: Siemens Healthineers) CT
signals, making it more efficient than
scan systems has been in limited
the current CT scan technology. The
phases. Different versions of CT scans
exposure of radiation reduces by 45
were developed but none to change
per cent in Ultra High Resolution scans
the functionality of it. The photon-
using a photon counting technology,
counting CT paves a way for a new
unlike in regular CT Scan using a UHM
detector to be utilised for clinical
comb filter.
Technological
upgradation
in
routine. These detectors defeat the
the directly
photon-counting transforms
the
X-ray photons into electrical signals, delivering more usable data than the usual CT scans. The photon-counting detector measures charges and energy of
the
individual
X-ray
photons
emanating inherent spectral sensitivity.
Benefits of Photon Counting Technology High-resolution
images
owing
to
Naeotom Alpha debuted in September
smaller pixels help the medical staff to
2021, when the U.S. Food and Drug
make clinical decisions and give clarity
Administration
it
on the health condition of the patient. It
had granted clearance to the scanner.
removes the electronic noise and lowers
The FDA said in a press release that
radiation exposures, both significant in
this
imaging
regular CT scans. The alleviation in the
launched
device advancement" in CT in nearly a
radiation exposure allows screening for
Naeotom Alpha, a photon counting
decade. Interestingly, Photon-counting
a larger pool of population suffering
CT Scanner, which the medical device
CT measures and processes data in a
from lung cancer. Additionally, the
major claims, is the first in the world.
different method than conventional
intrinsic results capture the tiniest
Photon counting CT scanner directly
CT
tissue of the lungs, without the pain of
converts the X-Ray photons into electric
mean radiologists could get images
limitations of the currently used CT detectors, by providing usable data at a high resolution with innate spectral information, less radiation dose, and without electronic noise. Siemens
34
Healthineers
January 2022
was
the
(FDA)
"first
instrumentation.
announced
major
So
this
could
holding your breath.
