The FDA has cleared Siemens Healthineers’ Somatom Drive CT system, a new dual-source scanner that’s designed to deliver precision in diagnostic imaging in clinical disciplines such as pediatrics, emergency medicine, and oncology. The system also provides quality functions that help with reducing examination time, preparation, and follow-up care.

Equipped with Siemens’ Straton MX Sigma x-ray tubes and Sigma generators, the Somatom Drive CT enables more targeted beam focusing and exams using high-energy levels at low voltages. The use of lower voltage during exams can translate to clinicians using less contrast, which can be helpful for seriously ill patients or those with reduced kidney function. Scanning at a lower voltage has the additional benefit of reducing patient radiation exposure.

Because of these capabilities, the Somatom Drive CT enables the performance of low-dose CT lung scans. The combination of low dose and high diagnostic reliability means the system is also suitable for spinal diagnostics and orthopedic examinations; the scanner’s dual-energy mode allows clinicians to tell the difference between tissue and bone.

Because of the system’s speed, pediatric examinations can be conducted with no sedation. For elderly patients with undiagnosed chest pain and breathing difficulties, the ability to breathe freely during the scanning process is a benefit. Further, due to its scanning speed, patients’ heart and lung movements don’t compromise diagnostic imaging quality; since a cardiac scan can be performed within a single heartbeat, beta-blockers may no longer be necessary to slow the heartbeat of some patients.

“Siemens Healthineers is proud to introduce the high-performance Somatom Drive dual-source CT system, which provides our customers with the flexibility to deliver more precise imaging—and potentially further reduce patient dose through the utilization of multiple [kilovolts] settings,” says Douglas Ryan, vice president of CT at Siemens Healthineers North America.

For more information about this CT system, visit Siemens.