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Canon Medical Launches CT Solution in Answer to COVID-19

Canon Medical Launches CT Solution in Answer to COVID-19 | Catalina Imaging

Last April 29, Canon Medical Systems USA, Inc, launched “deployable CT solutions and rapid decontamination” to help hospitals that are screening and caring for patients suspected to be positive or confirmed to be infected with COVID-19.

This may also be helpful in the isolation and imaging of patients who may be suffering from other viral infectious diseases.

Completely Capable System

This new deployable system involves the Aquilion Prime SP. This CT system offers the following benefits, among many others:
● Hit multiple anatomical areas within one breath-hold and one contrast injection
● Give healthcare workers access to the patient from the front and rear of the gantry
● Can be installed in most existing CT rooms

According to Canon Medical, the Aquilion Prime SP system “can generate 160 unique slices per rotation with 0.35-second scanning, reducing the time required to perform studies for compromised patients, and also increase throughput.” This makes the system useful even in emergency cases.

In Canon Medical’s new offering, the Aquilion Prime SP CT system can be used in a modular or mobile footprint with a rapid decontamination tool. This assures rapid imaging, safe handling of patients, complete isolation (even from other hospital staff), and necessary decontamination.

Cleaning and Decontamination in Minutes

According to Diagnostic Imaging in an article written by Whitney J. Palmer, “In most cases, based on industry guidance, a CT scanner has been decommissioned for roughly an hour between scanning patients to minimize the likelihood of viral transmission.”

An hour can already be the length of a church service. If we recall the story of Patient 31, after she attended two services at her church in South Korea, she ended up infecting 1,160 people as of March 20.

Hospitals and healthcare workers do not have the luxury of an hour to make sure their CT scanner is ready for another patient — not in a time like now with its demands.

Rapid UV-C Decontamination

Canon Medical addresses this with its system that can be decontaminated in minutes, with the use of an automated ultraviolet light system. “Imaging infectious disease patients is not a new phenomenon for medical providers,” said Erin Angel, managing director, CT Business Unit, Canon Medical Systems USA, Inc, in a statement.

“But our customers are facing an unprecedented number of potentially contagious patients,” he continued. “Our deployable CT offerings with the addition of rapid UV-C decontamination will offer providers a unique solution to help improve their workflow and safety as they image infectious disease patients.”

Least Chances of Contamination

Simply put, Canon Medical’s decontamination system is an automated UV-C technology that significantly reduces bacteria, spores, and viruses. It is effective against a variety of advanced viral infectious diseases. It is readily available for new CT solutions as well as existing imaging suites.

The system’s multiple automated UV-C emitters work together to provide decontamination of the room in minutes, a big factor especially with a virus as quick to spread as SARS-CoV-2 (this is the official name that the World Health Organization gave the coronavirus or the virus that causes COVID-19).

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Mobile CT Scanner Allows Patients To Stay in the ICU While Connected to Monitors and Devices

Mobile CT Scanner Allows Patients To Stay in the ICU While Connected to Monitors and Devices | Catalina Imaging

Transporting a critically ill patient to radiology for routine examinations not only requires staffing resources, time, and energy, but it can also put the patient through unnecessary stress and increased risk.

A mobile computed tomography (CT) scanner developed by Siemens now allows the unit to be wheeled right into the patient rooms for bedside procedures, rather than transporting the patient to radiology.

In this manner, the SOMATOM On.site transforms care delivery and improves the overall patient and staff experience.

“The SOMATOM On.site is a fundamentally new approach for CT head scans of intensive care patients,” says Philipp Fischer, Head of Computed Tomography, Siemens Healthineers, at the 105th Scientific Assembly and Annual Meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) last December in Chicago.

“It offers a combination of mobility, ease of use, and the image quality customers have come to expect from SOMATOM CT scanners. At the same time, it allows healthcare providers to use their staff and their permanently installed CT fleet even more effectively.”

As the Siemens SOMATOM On.site mobile CT scanner is wheeled into the patient’s room, examinations can be administered right by the bedside, so the patient doesn’t even have to get out of bed. A simple adjustment of the headboard is all that is needed to allow adequate access inside the scanner.

A head holder and shoulder board attached to the scanner aids in ensuring that the alignment of the head is straight and accurate. All the tubes and cables remain attached to the patient (and relatively undisturbed) throughout the procedure.

The system’s new intelligent user interface, myExam Companion, assists the radiology technician to navigate through the examination for consistent results, regardless of experience level.

Following image acquisition, the radiology technician slides the patient down in the bed from the headboard, and the CT scan is sent automatically to the picture archiving and communication system (PACS) at the hospital’s radiological image database. A staff radiologist can then review the scans immediately thereafter.

This streamlined process typically takes minutes, requires minimal staffing, and reduces potential risk for the patient.

The integrated drive camera in the front of the scanner offers real-time viewing on the built-in touch display, allowing for easy maneuvering of the scanner. The smart driving concept with the motorized trolley and ergonomic handle helps enable precise, intuitive positioning even in small spaces.

More information about the SOMATOM On.site mobile CT scanner by Siemens is available on the Siemens Healthineers official website.

Siemens Healthineers

Shaping the future of healthcare from their company headquarters in Erlangen, Germany, Siemens Healthineers enables healthcare providers worldwide through its regional companies to increase value by empowering them on their journey towards expanding precision medicine, transforming care delivery, improving the patient experience, and digitalizing healthcare.

Today, Siemens Healthineers is continuously developing new products and services to add to its portfolio, with AI-supported applications and digital offerings that play an increasingly important role in the next generation of medical technology.

(Sources: BusinessWire, Medgadget, and Biospace.com.)