The Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children, Orlando, Florida, USA, is the first dedicated pediatric hospital worldwide to install a SOMATOM^® Definition Flash computed tomography (CT) scanner to provide its pediatric patients with better service. The SOMATOM Definition Flash CT scanner was designed specially to make CT exams healthier. When it comes to patients with particular needs and requirements, the numerous benefits of the system’s Dual Source technology become even more evident. Particularly in pediatric medicine, dose reduction strategies are critical: the younger the patient, the greater the impact radiation can have. This is what let the staff and administration at Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children to install Siemens’ latest high-end scanner. SOMATOM Definition Flash requires only a fraction of the radiation dose of other systems to scan even the tiniest anatomical details. Here, applications like X-Care¹and an adaptive dose shield help ensure that only the clinically necessary radiation occurs and unneccesary radiation in dose-sensitive regions is avoided as much as possible.

In addition to the significantly reduced radiation, the “flash-like” speed of the scanner provides several advantages for workflow and patient comfort that are especially welcome in a pediatric hospital. “The speed of SOMATOM Definition Flash, the excellent image quality from head to toe combined with low-dose sensitivity helps ensure that pediatric patients receive the best care,” says Kulin Hemani, Vice President CT at Siemens Healthcare USA. Parents and pediatric patients will benefit from this technology by not having to worry about sedation that otherwise would have been required for CT imaging. Breath hold is also optional with the Flash technology, since high resolution images are acquired in the blink of an eye. “We are extremely pleased to be the first dedicated pediatric hospital in the world to provide this new technology,” says John Bozard, President, Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children. “For our young patients, the SOMATOM Definition Flash scanner means faster images, reduced radiation exposure, and it significantly lessens the need for contrast dye injections.”