RSNA News: Toshiba Medical Expands Neuro MR Capabilities with Advanced Gradient Offering

Building on its success with offering clinicians more advanced options for neuro magnetic resonance (MR) imaging, Toshiba Medical, a Canon Group company, is demonstrating the Vantage Galan 3T XGO Edition with the all-new Saturn X Gradient (pending U.S. Food and Drug Administration 510(k) clearance) at the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) annual meeting this week in Chicago, Ill. The Saturn X Gradient features an advanced strength of 45 mT/m (milliTesla per meter) to offer health care providers fast, higher-resolution imaging, while continuing to deliver streamlined workflow and superior patient comfort.
 
The Saturn X Gradient on the Galan 3T XGO Edition comes with Toshiba Medical’s PUREGradient digital technology, which can provide up to 30 percent improved signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) for brain diffusion weighted imaging (DWI), resulting in even higher-resolution neuro images than previously offered. The Galan 3T XGO Edition offers the ability to conduct quick, comfortable and high-quality neuro imaging exams, and allows for faster sampling and higher-resolution images, thanks to PURERF and Saturn technologies. This, combined with the ability to stack protocol sequences, results in quick neuro exams, enabling healthcare providers to produce higher resolution images for myriad neuro exams in under five minutes.* The Galan 3T XGO Edition also offers Multiband SPEEDER technology, which allows for multiple slices to be acquired at the same time, reducing diffusion weighted imaging scan times by up to two times.
 
Beyond its neuro capabilities, the Galan 3T XGO Edition also offers enhanced cardiac capabilities, including T1 mapping that utilizes MOdified Look-Locker Inversion recovery (MOLLI) sequence and allows providers to acquire a more quantitative characterization of myocardial tissue within a single breath hold. Additionally, Phase Sensitive Inversion Recovery (PSIR) in the heart provides improved contrast in late-enhanced imaging and eliminates the need for inversion time (TI) calibration scan, allowing cardiac exams to be completed with fewer breath holds and greater patient comfort.
 
“The introduction of the new Galan 3T XGO Edition with the Saturn X Gradient builds on the successes we have seen with the Galan 3T and enables us to enhance our neuro imaging package,” said Dominic Smith, senior director, CT, PET/CT, and MR Business Units, Toshiba America Medical Systems Inc. “We know health care providers have varied clinical imaging requirements. The introduction of this new, advanced gradient enables us to meet the diverse needs of the marketplace with new imaging opportunities while continuing to provide patients with a quiet and comfortable experience.”
 
Toshiba Medical also is showcasing the AplioTM i600 (pending FDA 510(k) clearance), the newest addition to the premium Aplio i-series ultrasound platform, at the RSNA show. The Aplio i600 is the entry-level system in the Aplio i-series family and offers enhanced workflow and performance features that help improve diagnostic confidence and enable physicians to deliver safe and fast exams for patients.
 
The Aplio i600 provides intuitive ergonomics to help boost productivity during daily routine and complex exams with iSense, while iPerformance delivers advanced imaging capabilities and applications that helps health care providers to give more confident diagnoses. The system offers an image-guided user interface, which visually guides the clinician through the exam to simplify system operation and help improve efficiency. Additionally, the Aplio i600 uses the same transducers from the current Aplio Platinum Series, making migration to this new system even easier.

“We designed the Aplio i600 as a fundamental building block of the Aplio i-series platform,” said Dan Skyba, director, Ultrasound Business Unit, Toshiba America Medical Systems Inc. “The Aplio i600 offers tools that help clinicians improve productivity and can deliver optimal images and definition for quick and confident diagnoses, while maintaining a cost-effective solution for today’s healthcare environment.”
 
Toshiba Medical is showcasing the new Aplio i600 at Booth 7335, North Hall B.
 
Toshiba America Medical Systems, headquartered in Tustin, Calif., markets, sells, distributes and services radiology and cardiovascular systems, including computed tomography, MR, ultrasound, X-Ray and interventional X-Ray equipment.
 
Toshiba Medical offers a full range of diagnostic medical imaging solutions including ultrasound, CT, X-Ray, and MR across the globe. As of December 2016, Toshiba Medical became a member of the Canon Group.
 
*Initial indications suggest the following neuro sequences can be performed in under five minutes: SAG T1, AX T2, AX T2 FLAIR, AX T2 and AX DWI/ADC.
 
Vantage Galan is a trademark of Toshiba Medical Systems Corporation.