Molecular Imaging Insight - June 2008 - (Page 10)

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES: Read more on Siemens IQ•SPECT BY L I S A F R AT T Nuclear Cardiology’s NEXT STEP Nuclear cardiology is a very mature, well-established area of diagnostic imaging. In fact, myocardial perfusion SPECT imaging has a solid 30-year history. Its diagnostic value is high, and the modality is wellaccepted. One indicator of the high value of myocardial perfusion SPECT is its procedure volume in the United States, which has seen double-digit growth in the last 15 years. Given the high acceptance and clinical utility of myocardial perfusion SPECT, any new imaging technologies designed for nuclear cardiology must meet high standards and fill well-defined needs. Despite the broad acceptance and utility of myocardial perfusion SPECT, there is room for improvement. In fact, the clinical value of cardiac SPECT can be improved in three specific areas: reduction of acquisition time, addition of hybrid or fusion imaging with CT, and through the introduction of new tracers. IQ•SPECT, a new technology under development by Siemens, is designed to address the most pressing challenge identified by cardiologists. That is, the fairly long acquisition time for SPECT and SPECT/CT studies 10 Molecular Imaging Insight | June 2008 is associated with image quality and patient throughput issues. To a great extent, the power of SPECT combined with true diagnostic CT is still relatively new. Even experienced nuclear medicine physicians are not fully aware of how much the technology can do before they start using it. The same is true for referring physicians who are suddenly offered much more than they could see with conventional SPECT. The result is that noncardiac referrals tend to grow, namely in infection, orthopedic MolecularImaging.net http://www.molecularimaging.net/documents/0608/SMNM-066_IQ_Test_Brochure_FINAL.pdf http://MolecularImaging.net

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Molecular Imaging Insight - June 2008

Molecular Imaging Insight - June 2008 Contents NOPR: A Landmark Study Cover Story: Evidence-based Medicine Points to Wider Role for Molecular Imaging in Patient Care NOPR Delivers Evidence for Expanded PET Use in Oncology Imaging The Balancing Act Nuclear Cardiology’s Next Step Molecular Imaging Training Gaining Traction SPECT/CT’s Role in Post-Transplant Infection Imaging Clinical Study Digest : Heart Disease & Metastatic Breast, Gastric and Head & Neck Cancer

Molecular Imaging Insight - June 2008

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