Siemens Healthcare announced that it demonstrated the fastest speed and lowest dose for cardiac applications with the SOMATOM Definition Flash dual source computed tomography (CT) scanner at the 58th Annual Scientific Session of the American College of Cardiology (ACC) in Orlando. Siemens CT covers the entire spectrum of cardiology, from early detection to acute care through follow-up. “The SOMATOM Definition Flash requires only a fraction of the radiation dose that systems previously required to scan even the tiniest anatomical details faster than ever before,” said Kulin Hemani, vice president, CT, Siemens Medical Solutions USA, Inc. “Scanning the thorax, including the heart, can be done in only 0.6 seconds, taking the burden of breath-holding off the patient and allowing functional imaging for body regions up to 48 cm.” Temporal resolution of 75 ms and scan speed of up to 43 cm/s make heart-scanning possible, with dose levels below 1 millisievert (mSv), whereas the average effective dose required for this purpose usually ranges from 8 mSv to 40 mSv. The patient is moved through the CT-scanner more than twice as fast as with any conventional system, and at the same time, requiring a much lower radiation dose than conventional scans. In comparison, the X-ray radiation that the average person is exposed to each year from natural sources amounts to 2 mSv to 5 mSv. The dose values of the new Siemens CT scanner lie far below those of an intracardiac catheter examination, thus opening up possibilities for using CT scanners for routine cardiological examinations. A scan of the entire heart can be performed in only 250 milliseconds, which is less than half a heartbeat. In addition, it is possible for physicians to reliably display a heart with a fast pulse or an irregular heart beat without using beta blockers, thus simplifying the workflow and yielding clinical and financial advantages. The SOMATOM Definition Flash is the only CT scanner on the market that enables the use of noninvasive cardiological diagnostic techniques as routine applications at the lowest possible radiation exposure levels. The second generation of Dual Energy imaging will introduce a new imaging quality. The contrast in CT scans will be increased without having to apply the higher radiation dose previously required. This is achieved via a new, selective photon shield which blocks unnecessary parts of the energy spectrum. It thereby provides improved separation of the two simultaneous scans with low and high photon energy, without causing a higher radiation exposure than would result from an individual, conventional CT examination with only one energy source. Thus, the SOMATOM Definition Flash can always provide a double contrast which, for the first time ever, can also be used to classify the chemical composition of tissues via a CT scan in routine daily work.