Siemens SOMATOM ®Definition CT Scanner: Reviews, Price and Specification

Dual Source CT is opening exciting new diagnostic areas and it's particularly pleasing to find that it results in immediate, measurable improvements in time and patient care. Instead of simply adding more slices, the increased temporal resolution of the SOMATOM® Definition is the right development towards making coronary CTA the primary diagnostic test in suspected coronary artery disease. SOMATOM Definition impresses with its ability to accurately visualize small coronary arteries throughout all heart rates without the use of ß-blockers. SOMATOM Definition's breathtaking image quality enables us access complete new clinical applications, setting a new benchmark in CT. Dual Source CT portends one of the most significant technology shifts since the introduction of Spiral and Multislice CT. This novel advance promises not only improvements in speed and coverage but also new clinical advances and applications.

The latest tool, for example, Optimum Contrast, intelligently combines the benefits of both 80 kV and 140 kV information into one set of images. This functionality is fully automated and integrated into the Siemens Dual Energy post-processing software, offering a fast and easy method to create optimized CT images.

Specification SOMATOM ®Definition

Clinical 

• Imaging of all heart rates without ß-blockers.
• Scanning of arrhythmic patients.
• Reliable and reproducible plaque discrimination.
• High accuracy of in-stent imaging.
• Acquisition within shortest breath-hold.
• 50 %* lower dose at typical heart rates compared with today’s most dose efficient,single source CT scanners.
• 5.5 msv at 80 bpm.**
• Immediate one-stop diagnosis of patients in critical condition.
• Accurate triage of chest-pain patients within 10 minutes.
• Easy routine scanning regardless of size and condition of patients.
• No ß-blocker application for heart rate control.
• Accessible for all patients up to 220 kg (485 lbs).
• Access for all patients, up to 200 cm/220 kg (79‘‘/485 lbs).
• Time-savings by eliminating manual postprocessing steps.

Technical

• Industry’s highest heart-rate independent temporal resolution of 83 ms.
• Industry’s highest spatial resolution of 0.33 mm.
• Adaptive ECG-Pulsing™, heartbeat controlled dose modulation, reacts to any changes and abnormalities of the heartbeat in real time.
• Cardiac images are acquired in single heartbeats, no need for multi segment reconstruction.
• Adaptive table speed reduces acquisition time and dose at higher heart rates.
• Up to 160 kW power, 78 cm (31‘‘) gantry bore and FOV, 200 cm (79“) scan range.
• Industry’s fastest sub millimeter coverage of up to 87 mm/s.
• Industry’s highest spatial resolution of 0.33 mm.
• Industry’s highest heart-rate independent temporal resolution of 83 ms.
• Simultaneous acquisition of two data sets at different kVs.
• Spiral Dual Energy acquisition in one scan.
• Upgradeable dual energy software application.

Price :

Used : $ 580,000 (Year manufactured:2008)

New :  between $2.3 million and $2.5 million

Imaging Result Example