WBR technology increases patient safety and comfort, reduces nuclear radiation doses, and shortens scan times
Auburndale, Mass., March 14, 2016 – UltraSPECT Inc., a leading provider of multi-vendor, low-dose image processing technology for nuclear medicine, today announced the implementation of its Xpress.Cardiac half-dose, iterative reconstruction imaging software in the Cardiology Department of the Toledo Clinic, Inc., Toledo, Ohio. The software is helping the facility to reduce the injected radiopharmaceutical dose to patients while lowering the radiation exposure for patients and nuclear staff alike.
The Toledo Clinic installed UltraSPECT as part of HeartLight Pharmacy Services’ HeartSafe Imaging™ program, which helps facilities decrease SPECT radiation exposure and minimize scan time for patient comfort. Nuclear medicine imaging facilities can receive UltraSPECT products as part of their radiopharmaceutical supply agreement with HeartLight Pharmacy Services.
The Toledo Clinic’s Cardiology department conducts 8-12 cardiac imaging studies per day and averages around 390 doses per month. Clinicians and nuclear technologists alike have championed the UltraSPECT system since its inception.
“When we learned about UltraSPECT from our HeartLight representative and considered the solution’s capabilities, it made logical sense to go with the technology,” said Daniel Carter, B.S., CNMT, NCT, technologist at the Toledo Clinic. “Everything is moving toward reducing radiation exposure, from Image Gently and Image Wisely campaigns to the American College of Radiology (ACR) regulations. With UltraSPECT, we can use a half-dose protocol to get very good resolution images, comparable or even better to what we had before, with edges more defined.”
Carter added that in instances where a full dose is needed, scan time can be cut in half, thereby preserving patient safety without compromising the caliber of the scan. No matter the dose or time, UltraSPECT permits imaging to occur under the most comfortable, safest conditions, he stated. As such, the solution also supports the Toledo Clinic’s mission to provide, through about 161 physicians in more than 35 different specialties, “the highest quality health care with compassion and convenience.”
An easy installation and training process made it possible for the Toledo Clinic to quickly begin reaping these benefits. To accommodate training and facilitate the workflow transition, the Cardiology Department needed only to set a lighter patient schedule for one day.
“The Toledo Clinic is a great example of the potential in the relationships between the radiopharmaceutical suppliers and their customers,” said Yossi Srour, President and CEO, UltraSPECT. “By incorporating UltraSPECT products in their supply agreement, the suppliers facilitate the adoption of low-dose technology by their customers. As an added benefit, UltraSPECT imaging solution also results in increased patient comfort, as patient-friendly technologists and physicians at the Toledo Clinic have observed.”
Xpress.Cardiac allows cardiac imaging to be performed at half dose or half time thanks to an innovative, proprietary reconstruction algorithms technology known as Wide-Beam Reconstruction (WBRTM). The WBRTM image processing software for nuclear cardiac and oncology imaging addresses the clinical need for significant reduction in injection dose and shortened scan times, boosting patient safety, throughput and comfort without sacrificing image quality and diagnostic confidence. At a fraction of the cost of a brand new camera, UltraSPECT also provides one of the most cost-effective solutions to the nuclear medicine market.
UltraSPECT solutions allow nuclear medicine professionals to deliver safer, shorter scans and increase patient comfort with images as good, if not better, than those provided with traditional SPECT acquisition. 450 UltraSPECT nuclear medicine units have been installed in over 300 health systems across the country, including St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital in New York City, Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN, Duke University Medical Center in Durham, NC, Henry Ford Wyandotte Hospital in Wyandotte, Mich., and multiple MaineHealth facilities throughout the state.
For more information about the UltraSPECT technologies and reducing dose in nuclear medicine, visit www.ultraspect.com or call 1-888-WBR-SCAN (1-888-927-7226).
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About UltraSPECT
UltraSPECT Inc. is the only provider of image reconstruction solutions that can simultaneously lower radiation dose, shorten acquisition times and increase diagnostic quality for any nuclear medicine exam. Based on proprietary, innovative Wide-Beam Reconstruction (WBR™) algorithms, UltraSPECT products continue to be the most cost-effective dose-reduction solutions available. Healthcare facilities of all sizes maximize value from the ability to leverage the investment in existing nuclear medicine cameras – regardless of the manufacturer, model and age. Moreover, UltraSPECT solutions enable healthcare facilities to meet the American Society of Nuclear Cardiology (ASNC) low-dose guidelines. UltraSPECT image reconstruction products are approved by the FDA, as well as numerous regulatory authorities in Europe and Asia, and are in routine clinical use in hundreds of leading nuclear medicine imaging centers around the world. For more information, visit https://ultraspect.com.
