Toshiba Aquillion ONE with AIDR Review

In CT imaging, material having different chemical composition can be represented by the same, or very similar, CT numbers , making the differentiation and calcification of different types of tissues extremely challenging. A classical example is difficulty in differentiating between calcified plaques and iodine containing blood.Although this materials differ in atomic number considerable, depending on respective mass density or iodine concentration, bone and iodinated blood may appear identical. In addition the difficulty in differentiation and classifying tissue types , the accuracy with which material concentration can be measured is degraded by presence of multiple tissue types. For example , when measuring the amount of iodine enhancement of soft tissue lesion, the measured mean CT number over the lesion reflect not only the enhancement due to iodine , but also the CT number of underlying tissue. In clinical practice, the use of Adaptive Iterative Dose Reduction 3D (AIDR 3d) feature may reduce CT patient dose depending on the clinical task, patient size, anatomical location and clinical practice. A consultation with a radiologist and a physicist should be made to determine the appropriate dose to obtain diagnostic image quality for the particular clinical task. Adaptive Iterative Dose Reduction 3D (AIDR 3d) is the latest generation of Toshiba iterative reconstruction technology that fully integrated into imaging chain and optimized for busy clinical environment. In the first generation :AIDR the image based iterative noise reduction algorithm. On .second generation : AIDR+ integrated into ^SUREExposure 3D setting. And on the 3rd generation: AIDR 3D Noise reduction in the raw and image data space. Noise suppression is automatically Applied to GSI imaging and is used on the material density images in order to enhance the quality of the image without shifting the mean values. This allows for a quantities material density image with good image quality. The noise suppression it self leverages the statistical iterative reconstruction approach taken by ASIR(fan et al,2010).

The balance of image quality and radiation dose is the fundamental challenge for physicians in performing routine clinical examinations while adhering to the ALARA principle. With the integration of AIDR 3D* into ^SUREExposure controls, the radiation exposure is automatically reduced before the scan ensuring the lowest dose is given for the diagnostic task at hand, no matter what the size or shape of the patient.

Normally, a CT device takes pictures associated with organs by the piece. At the end, all the pieces are stitched with each other, and processed slightly. Aquillion One is way is a little different: It is all around the user in 330 ultra-high-resolution x-ray detectors, each fifty percent a millimeter wide. They are placed in a drum that rotates around the individual ? at a speed adequate to image the whole body from every possible angle in less time than the usual relaxed single heart beat.

This slight delay is of immense benefit. Whilst with the 320 detectors, it can cover almost a full sweep of the body at once, with the additional time delay, not only is every possible view covered, but flow patterns within organs are imaged . it is actually precise enough to capture organ movement such as the path of flowing blood through the heart. The scanner is able to work out current flow patterns and thus give clues to the location of damaged blood vessels or other issues, by showing swirling fluid patterns. To top it all off, the ONE uses 80% fewer X-rays than previous slice-based scanners.

The scanning pan that ships as a part of the unit can handle a person of up to 650lb. However, if they are that heavy, and not fully prosthetic in body, it would not take a scanning machine to diagnose the source of the problem. The ONE costs about twice as much as a traditional multi-slice CT scanner, but company officials say it will end up saving money and physicians  time because so many auxiliary tests won?t be needed.

At date of writing, three units have been installed in US hospitals. Toshiba expects to sell at least 200 of the scanners worldwide by next April.
To give an example of using such a machine, state a patient walks in to the hospital emergency center, barely able to keep their feet, but with the crushing pain in the chest. Rather than the typical battery of assessments, and long waiting around delays in crucial care, a scanning device of this type medical determinations the problem almost instantly   1 takes 20 minutes, with regard to full scanning as well as data rendering in to 3D form.

Price Toshiba Aquillion ONE :

System users say a 64-slice scanner costs a little more than $1 million, while a 256-slice scanner runs about $2 million and a 320-slice system costs about $2.5 million

Example Imaging with Toshiba Aquillion ONE