Patient enrollment in the study to commence in the summer of 2010

GE Healthcare (GE) has planned to start a multi-center study to investigate the performance of Model Based Iterative Reconstruction (MBIR) as a method to maintain or improve diagnostic information available to clinicians while dramatically lowering radiation dose in routine CT imaging.

Patient enrollment in the study is planned to commence in the summer of 2010 and results will be published the following year.

GE believes that the further advancements in HD Technologies, like MBIR, offer potential for another leap in resolution and reduction of patient dose, even below the level of today’s CT scanners.

Reportedly, MBIR uses an iterative model-based technique to reconstruct images with lower noise and higher resolution beyond the standard of traditional technologies, including filtered back projection and image-based noise reduction approaches. Due to limitations in computing power and reconstruction technology, model-based iterative approaches have not been practical for commercial CT scanners to date.

MBIR offers the potential to further enhance image quality at even lower radiation doses. The intent of the multi-center study is to investigate the level of performance that can be achieved with ultra-low radiation dose CT imaging enabled with MBIR for a variety of conditions in the brain, chest and abdomen.

Steve Gray, vice president and general manager of computed tomography at GE, said: “Providing better information to clinicians through High Definition CT images, while at the same time reducing patient dose, has been core to our priorities. We are excited to partner with medical institutions to investigate the performance of ultra-low dose CT scanning using MBIR.”