The German private practice MRI, Nuclear Medicine and PET/CT Center Bremen Central ("MRT-, Nuklearmedizin- und PET/CT-Zentrum Bremen Mitte") has commissioned Siemens Healthcare to supply a Biograph mMR. This represents the first use of the system by a private practice for the routine examination of patients. Biograph mMR is the world's first fully integrated whole-body molecular MR with simultaneous magnetic resonance (MR) and positron emission tomography (PET) imaging. The first four systems of this kind have been used to date in university hospitals and research centers with a focus on clinical research. At the group practice in Bremen, nuclear physicians and radiologists will share use of the Biograph mMR system to examine patients quickly and safely for oncological and neurological diseases. A whole-body scan with the molecular MR system can now be completed in approximately 30 minutes, compared with one hour or more for sequential MR and PET examinations.
"The new device heralds a completely new type of diagnosis: The molecular information, in conjunction with Biograph mMR's excellent anatomical and true-to-detail MR imaging, will help us make our diagnoses for patients even better and faster than what is currently possible. The simultaneous acquisition enables the benefits of MRI - such as functional examinations or spectroscopy - to be combined with PET, providing the doctor with additional information which can be used for personalized therapy," said Professor Christiane Franzius, nuclear physician and partner at the practice in Bremen.
"With simultaneous MR and PET images we also expect an improvement in our workflow. The result is a faster examination, which benefits the patient as well. Patient comfort is very important to us," explained Dr. Markus Lentschig, a radiologist and one of the partners at the "Bremen Mitte" practice. "Dose reduction is another major concern of ours - and this can be quite considerable compared to an examination with a PET/CT (computed tomography) device. This is particularly critical in the examination of children and young adults, also with regard to the sometimes numerous follow-up examinations for therapy monitoring. We will be using this innovative system for many neurological, cardiac and, especially, oncological diseases."
Since November 2010, several Biograph mMR systems have been installed at institutions in Europe and the USA. By allowing simultaneous acquisition and visualization of MR and PET data, this innovative system opens up new possibilities in disease detection in the fields of neurology, oncology, and cardiology.
The Bremen practice currently uses three Siemens MRI devices: The 3 Tesla Magnetom Verio system and the Magnetom Espree and Magnetom Avanto, both 1.5T systems. A new Magnetom Skyra 3T MRI system will be installed at the same time as the Biograph mMR.
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The Siemens Healthcare Sector is one of the world's largest healthcare solution providers and a leading manufacturer and service provider in the fields of medical imaging, laboratory diagnostics, hospital information technology and hearing instruments. It offers solutions covering the entire supply chain under one roof - from prevention and early detection to diagnosis and on to treatment and aftercare. By optimizing clinical workflows oriented toward the most important clinical pictures, Siemens also strives to make healthcare faster, better and, at the same time, less expensive. Siemens Healthcare currently has some 48,000 employees worldwide and is present throughout the world. During fiscal 2010 (up to September 30) the Sector posted sales worth 12.4 billion euros and profits of around 750 million euros.