Diagnostic SPECT-CT on the Rise with 500th SPECT-CT Installation

Quebec hospital to receive milestone Symbia installation

Toronto, Canada, June 14, 2009 – Siemens Healthcare announces the 500th installation of its diagnostic SPECT-CT technology. The Centre hospitalier universitaire de Sherbrooke in Quebec will receive a Symbia T6-slice SPECT-CT system on June 18 and will be honored at Siemens Booth #1024 at this week’s 2009 SNM Annual Meeting in Toronto. This milestone installation demonstrates the clear market shift toward diagnostic SPECT•CT procedures.

“Despite the challenging markets, Siemens Symbia family of SPECT and SPECT-CT imagers has seen a tremendous amount of growth in the past year, and especially, in the last quarter of 2008, where our hybrid SPECT-CT sales were more than 50 percent of overall SPECT sales. In a market which has been historically dominated by stand-alone SPECT cameras, we’re seeing a significant shift toward an acceptance of hybrid SPECT-CT technology,” said Michael Reitermann, chief executive officer, Molecular Imaging, Siemens Healthcare. “We believe this trend is due to the increase in clinical applications offered by hybrid SPECT-CT and also due to the increase in the need to use hybrid imagers as multi-purpose cameras, often serving both radiology and nuclear medicine imaging departments.”

Stand-alone SPECT imagers, such as Siemens e.cam and Symbia S and E imagers, have long been the gold standard for general SPECT imaging, but since the introduction of the Symbia family of SPECT-CT imagers in 2005, with current available CT configurations in 2-, 6-, and 16-slices, clinical applications for SPECT-CT have grown, as have the benefits for patients.

“We are very excited to begin using our new Siemens Symbia T6,” said Dr. Jean Verreault, FRCP(c), nuclear medicine specialist, head of Nuclear Medicine Division and professor at the Centre hospitalier universitaire de Sherbrooke. “Being a university teaching institution, we have already had many ideas for new applications where we can use this new hybrid technology. It is clear that the Siemens hybrid [imaging] technology will greatly enhance our medical practice in particular in the localization and evaluation of parathyroid adenoma, sentinel node imaging, thyroid cancer and neuro-endocrinal tumor follow-up, but also in novel applications.”

“The Siemens IQ•SPECT technology we purchased with our new Symbia T6 has potential to significantly improve our productivity in nuclear cardiology; thus freeing more time for other imaging such as oncology exams,” Verreault added. “With the recent addition of 19 SPECT-CT cameras purchased from Siemens last year in Quebec, we are convinced that SPECT-CT will become a standard of practice in the province of Quebec, and in Canada as a whole.”

As new applications for SPECT/CT are on the rise, standard applications in nuclear cardiology are becoming even more effective. For example, Symbia IQ•SPECT technology raises the bar for well-established myocardial perfusion SPECT imaging evaluations by enabling a comprehensive cardiac evaluation including perfusion, attenuation correction and calcium scoring in just five minutes. The combination of an organ centric acquisition technique, fast 3D iterative reconstruction, and improved patient comfort from a quicker scan sets the standard for image quality, speed, productivity and throughput.

The quick, low-dose spiral CT scan that is currently used to obtain attenuation correction information can also be used as a critical element in the cardiac work-up to screen patients for coronary artery disease. Calcium scoring is an independent indicator of prognosis in CAD and in combination with SPECT does improve diagnostic confidence.

The Siemens Healthcare Sector is one of the world’s largest suppliers to the healthcare industry. The company is a renowned medical solutions provider with core competence and innovative strength in diagnostic and therapeutic technologies as well as in knowledge engineering, including information technology and system integration. With its laboratory diagnostics acquisitions, Siemens Healthcare is the first integrated healthcare company, bringing together imaging and lab diagnostics, therapy, and healthcare information technology solutions, supplemented by consulting and support services. Siemens Healthcare delivers solutions across the entire continuum of care – from prevention and early detection, to diagnosis, therapy and care. Additionally, Siemens Healthcare is the global market leader in innovative hearing instruments. The company employs around 49,000 people worldwide and operates in 130 countries. In the fiscal year 2008 (Sept. 30), Siemens Healthcare reported sales of €11.2 billion, orders of €11.8 billion, and Sector profit of €1.2 billion. Further information can be found by visiting http://www.siemens.com/healthcare.