RSNA 2024: Siemens Healthineers Expands Photon-Counting CT Portfolio

Siemens Healthineers has launched the new Naeotom Alpha class and added the Naeotom Alpha.Pro, Naeotom Alpha.Prime, and Naeotom Alpha.Peak to its photon-counting computed tomography (CT) portfolio. 

The Naeotom Alpha has been the only commercially available system with this technology available for clinical use since 2021. It will remain part of a new class of photon-counting CT scanners as the Naeotom Alpha.Peak.

“With the launch of the Naeotom Alpha class, we deliver on our promise to make the powerful photon-counting technology accessible to more clinicians and patients,” said Philipp Fischer, Head of Computed Tomography at Siemens Healthineers. “We experience how photon-counting CT impacts clinical decision-making and we are convinced that this technology determines the future of CT imaging. Now, we are taking a major step into the future with the introduction of the Naeotom Alpha class, extending photon-counting technology further across our portfolio.”

The Naeotom Alpha.Peak will be the high-end model of the new product series with a scan time of 737 mm/sec (millimeters per second). All Naeotom Alpha class systems will use the Quantum HD resolution feature to display anatomical details in high resolution at a slice thickness of 0.2 mm. The system will visualize small abnormalities without increasing the radiation dose.

The Naeotom Alpha.Prime is the world’s first single-source photon-counting CT for use as a high-performance scanner for in-patient, ambulatory, and emergency room examinations in stand-alone institutions and big IDNs (Integrated Delivery Networks) or also in the periphery of hub-and-spoke networks. 

Precise diagnostic imaging with photon-counting CT as a new benchmark in future patient care will be available for the first time for facilities without specific needs for dual-source technology. 

The Naeotom Alpha.Prime accelerates diagnostic and interventional processes with the support of artificial intelligence and automation: myExam Companion guides users through various steps of the examination. This will enable departments to achieve consistent results, regardless of patient group, procedure, or experience.

The Naeotom Alpha.Pro combines photon counting with dual-source CT, resulting in scan times as fast as 491 mm/sec. This not only improves clinical workflows and the patient experience. 

Demanding examinations can be performed in pulmonology, with patients needing to hold their breath for less time; in cardiology, with scans at high heart rates without beta-blockers; and in pediatrics, where children can be scanned without sedation.

The Naeotom Alpha.Pro is suitable for institutions catering to patients with these needs and as a centrally located high-performance scanner for complex cases at the core of hub-and-spoke networks, which can use other scanners in the periphery for routine exams.

Siemens Healthineers’ technologies can be seen at RSNA 2024 in Chicago at Booth #2529.