Patients can now undergo cardiac nuclear medicine exams with lower radiation dose and in half the exam time
Auburndale, Mass., April 1, 2014 –UltraSPECT, provider of the only multi-vendor and most cost-effective imaging solution for meeting the American Society of Nuclear Cardiology (ASNC) low dose guidelines, announces today that Hamilton Cardiology Associates (HCA), Hamilton Township, New Jersey, will leverage UltraSPECT’s Xpress3.Cardiac™ software to reduce radiation exposure and shorten exam time for patients. HCA is a full service cardiology practice with 12 physicians including six board certified nuclear cardiologists, and has been serving Mercer County and its surrounding areas for more than 20 years.
“There is a low dose movement occurring in nuclear medicine imaging, and Hamilton Cardiology Associates is proud to be on the leading edge of it, enabled by innovative and cost-effective software from UltraSPECT,” said Ruck Davids, technical director of nuclear cardiology, Hamilton Cardiology Associates. “For HCA, delivering the highest quality care to our patients is always the priority, and with or without industry mandates, we will provide lower dose and shorter exam times for all of our patients thanks to Xpress3.Cardiac™ from UltraSPECT, giving us a significant competitive advantage over other local imaging facilities and hospitals.”
HCA conducts thousands of procedures annually and sees an exam volume higher than most local hospitals. In the practice’s pursuit of achieving reduced radiation dose, HCA needed a solution that maintained high image quality while still significantly lowering the dose. Additionally, reducing exam time to enhance patient comfort was also a significant focus, as the majority of the practice’s patients are age 60 and above. While most market offerings can only deliver either half dose or half time, UltraSPECT enabled HCA both; they have minimized exam duration and waiting time, while still maintaining image quality and lowering dose.
Supporting the Supply Chain
HCA is acquiring the UltraSPECT solution through an agreement with radiopharmaceutical supplier Nuclear Diagnostic Products of Philadelphia, Inc. It’s through innovative partnerships with providers like NDP that UltraSPECT is able to extend its reach, benefiting all parties.
“The UltraSPECT solution enables us to support our end users in their initiatives to lower dose and deliver better care to patients, but the software’s benefits have greater ripple effects across the supply chain as well,” said Wayne Wong, owner and vice president, Nuclear Diagnostic Products of Philadelphia, Inc. “As radiopharmaceutical suppliers, we value being able to assure customers that they can maintain quality patient care regardless of global radioisotope shortages – which is made possible through UltraSPECT’s low dose software.”
“Our relationships with radiopharmaceutical suppliers like NDP are so critical in helping extend our reach and enabling hospitals and practices like Hamilton Cardiology Associates to have leading nuclear medicine software to benefit them and their patients,” said Yossi Srour, president and CEO, UltraSPECT. “The successful adoption of low dose at HCA through NDP illustrates the benefits possible when vendors, suppliers and providers align efforts with patient care as the primary goal.”
UltraSPECT's WBR is an innovative technology addressing today’s concerns about patient radiation exposure and improved image quality. It enhances the performance of existing NM cameras by reducing injected dose, shorting imaging scan time, while maintaining the full level of image quality. The technology, sold as part of the UltraSPECT Xpress.Cardiac™, Xpress3.Cardiac™, and Xpress.Bone™ products, provides a viable method for achieving ASNC’s low-dose guidelines stating that the cardiology community limit the total radiation exposure to patients undergoing SPECT/PET myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) tests to an average of less than or equal to 9 mSv (millisieverts) in 50% of studies. Previously, the average was approximately 12 to 13 mSv for stress and rest imaging.
For more information on UltraSPECT technologies and reducing dose, visit www.ultraspect.com or contact call 1-888-WBR-SCAN (1-888-927-7226).
About UltraSPECT:
UltraSPECT Inc. is a leading provider of image reconstruction products, dedicated to enhancing the performance of existing nuclear medicine gamma cameras and PET scanners. Based on proprietary, innovative reconstruction algorithms, UltraSPECT’s Wide-Beam Reconstruction (WBR™) solutions shorten acquisition times, lower radiation dose and increases image resolution. Xpress.Cardiac™ enables rest/stress study acquisition with either half the radiopharmaceutical dose or half the scan time, compared to conventional acquisition techniques. Xpress3.Cardiac™ offers simultaneous reduced-dose and reduced-time imaging, supporting increased patient safety and comfort.
About Hamilton Cardiology Associates (HCA):
Established in 1987, Hamilton Cardiology Associates is a full service cardiology practice that has been servicing Mercer County and its surrounding areas for over 20 years. Comprised of Board Certified Cardiologists, Nurse Practitioners and Physician Assistants as well as Registered Nurses, Certified Technologists and critical personnel, our mission is to provide the highest level of quality, accessible medical care to our patients. For more information on Hamilton Cardiology Associates, visit us on the web: www.hcahamilton.com.
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Media Contact:
Sourav Das
KNB Communications for UltraSPECT
203-504-8230 x131
[email protected]
