FDA OKs Philips’ Spectral CT 7500 RT

Philips has received U.S. Food and Drug Administration 510(k) clearance for its new detector-based, spectral computed tomography (CT) solution, Spectral CT 7500 RT.

The new CT aims to advance personalized cancer care by integrating spectral CT tumor visualization and tissue characterization capabilities into cancer treatment and planning. Using Spectral CT 7500 RT, radiation oncologists can precisely target radiation therapy to a tumor’s specific physiological characteristics.

This can help minimize damage to healthy surrounding tissue and reduce potential side effects.

Spectral CT 7500 RT combines true conventional and spectral CT capabilities in once scan. Philips touts it as the first radiation therapy CT scanner with respiratory-gated spectral imaging. Radiation oncologists are granted the benefits of 4D conventional CT along with the improved visualization and quantification of spectral CT.

Philips said this latest innovation can benefit radiotherapy departments by lowering the costs of further scans, while boosting accuracy and allowing more effective treatment plans.

Spectral CT has been demonstrated to reduce proton stopping-power ratio (SPR) error by over 50% compared to conventional CT. Spectral CT 7500 RT acquires both true conventional CT and spectral CT information in a single scan. It can automatically create the SPR map and direct electron density (ED) results with less than 1% deviation to enhance both the dose calculation and accuracy of radiotherapy planning.

“Tumor delineation, beam attenuation, and respiratory motion are critical factors in radiotherapy planning,” said Dan Xu, Global Business Leader of CT at Philips. “The spectral information provided by Spectral CT 7500 RT enhances tissue characterization, enabling wider access to highly personalized and precisely targeted treatment for more patients without adding extra steps to current radiotherapy workflows.”

“The Spectral CT system provides us with several capabilities that conventional CT does not have,” added said Dr. Zhong Su, Physics Director, Department of Radiation Oncology at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) Medical Center. “It can provide electron density and effective atomic number results, which we can convert to the proton stopping-power ratio. And published data shows that the stopping power ratio obtained in this way has fewer uncertainties compared to regular calibration curves, thereby reducing the uncertainty margins during treatment planning.”