Siemens Healthcare has announced that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted 510(k) clearance for Symbia Intevo—an xSPECT system, which combines the high sensitivity of single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) with the high specificity of CT.

Completely integrating data from both modalities, Symbia Intevo generates high resolution and quantitative images.

?In conventional SPECT/CT imaging, the SPECT image has always been reconstructed using SPECT’s low-fidelity frame of reference. For this reason, the CT resolution has been downgraded dramatically to the level of SPECT to enable the mechanical fusion of both datasets. Siemens’ new xSPECT modality reconstructs both the SPECT and CT portions of the image using the high CT frame of reference for precise, accurate alignment that facilitates the extraction and deep integration of medically relevant information. This ability is also the basis for differentiating between tissue boundaries in bone imaging. With the xSPECT Bone feature, physicians can provide additional support for detection and distinguishing between cancerous lesions and degenerative disorders.

Symbia Intevo’s precise alignment of SPECT and CT provides physicians with essential volumetric information from the CT scan, enabling accurate, consistent and reproducible quantification—a numerical indication of a tumor’s level of metabolic activity. With the xSPECT Quant feature, the physician can apply quantitative information to aid in the assessment whether a patient’s course of treatment has regressed, stabilized or grown—an assessment that is difficult to make with a purely visual assessment of the tumor.