ANDOVER, Mass., Oct. 13 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Royal Philips Electronics announced today that it has begun commercial shipments of its GEMINI PET/CT Scanner with Brilliance 16 Power CT technology. Philips GEMINI PET/CT, the world’s first and only open PET/CT scanner, was designed for maximum imaging flexibility, ease of use and patient comfort. The latest release in this product line, GEMINI 16 Power configuration, acquires functional and anatomical images of exceptional quality in one simple procedure, supporting high patient throughput.
Philips unveiled this advanced scanner configuration in December 2003 and completed installation of the first clinical test sites in June 2004. Philips installed its first commercial GEMINI system in August 2003 and now has received more than 75 orders for the product.
“Image acquisition on the Philips GEMINI PET/CT 16 Power scanner is advantageous because it’s more flexible, the time frame is shortened with CT attenuation correction, and the resulting image quality is excellent,” said Medhat M. Osman, M.D., Sc.M, Ph.D., assistant professor, Department of Internal Medicine and director of PET, Division of Nuclear Medicine at Saint Louis University. Saint Louis University in St. Louis, Mo., was one of the test sites for the technology.
“Other unique benefits of the system include a patient-friendly open design to enable imaging patients with claustrophobia, and the ability to do a true whole body scan (i.e., head to toe),” added Dr. Osman. “Our recent studies showed that eight percent of metastatic lesions were outside the limited whole body field (i.e., base of skull to mid-thigh) imaged by other scanners and, therefore, missed in the process.” Philips GEMINI 16 Power Scanner solves this problem by enabling clinicians to image the whole body length, up to 190 cm, in a single scan. This total body scan includes the skull, brain, upper arms and lower extremities.
The demand for hybrid technologies such as PET/CT is rapidly growing, as they enable clinicians to more accurately pinpoint the location of targeted cells (i.e., tumor). Philips GEMINI line is meeting this growing demand, illustrated in the success of the new GEMINI scanner in less than a year. Philips now has approximately 250 PET and PET/CT systems installed worldwide.
“Philips latest GEMINI product was designed to meet the industry’s growing needs, and its rapid acceptance validates the product’s unique benefits,” said Ian Farmer, vice president and general manager, Nuclear Medicine, for Philips Medical Systems. “The addition of Brilliance CT 16 Power to our GEMINI product line has enhanced Philips already broad portfolio of PET and CT products, demonstrated our continued commitment, and solidified the company’s leadership in the important and growing field of PET.”
GEMINI PET/CT is a high-performance system that offers exceptional image quality and throughput, while addressing key patient and clinician requirements. The system provides comprehensive clinical applications for oncology, cardiology and neurology, and it enables seamless workflow between radiology and radiation oncology. The system offers an unparalleled level of integration with Philips Pinnacle radiation therapy planning system. GEMINI’s Brilliance Workspace optimizes acquisition workflow by providing a single procedure and interface for combined PET/CT imaging.
“In addition to the unique benefits of the technology, Philips stands far above other industry vendors because of the company’s collaborative approach and willingness to be an active participant in the development and implementation of research projects,” added Dr. Osman.
Philips GEMINI 16 Power is available in a mobile configuration, which was introduced in June 2004. This product facilitates imaging patients at multiple customer locations. GEMINI is also available in a dual-slice Mx8000 CT configuration, which Philips released in August 2003.
About Royal Philips Electronics
Royal Philips Electronics of the Netherlands is one of the world’s biggest electronics companies and Europe’s largest, with sales of $32.8 billion (EUR 29 billion in 2003). With activities in the three interlocking domains of healthcare, lifestyle and technology and 166,800 employees in more than 60 countries, it has market leadership positions in medical diagnostic imaging and patient monitoring, color television sets, electric shavers, lighting and silicon system solutions. News from Philips is located at http://www.philips.com/newscenter.
Royal Philips Electronics
CONTACT: Heidi Wilson, +1-978-659-7302, or Heidi.Wilson@philips.com, orSteve Kelly, +1-425-487-7479, or Steve.Kelly@philips.com, both of RoyalPhilips Electronics
Web site: http://www.philips.com/newscenter