A Finnish hospital is the first in the Nordic region to get a whole-body PET-MR.
Philips Healthcare said the PET center at Turku University Hospital became the first institution in Finland and Scandinavia to get its Ingenuity TF PET-MR scanner. The device was installed in November, Philips said, although an opening ceremony was held on Wednesday.
The device features a stand-alone time-of-flight PET scanner and MR scanner, and rotating turntable letting patients connect with each machine. The unit allows doctors to get sequential PET and MR images in the same session.
Although research on the device is just beginning, some doctors think the potential applications of the hybrid modality include attenuation correction of PET images without requiring computed tomography and new exams for some cancer and cardiovascular conditions.
The Ingenuity TF PET-MR received CE marking in January 2011, and Food and Drug Administration clearance in November. A hospital in Germany already installed it early last year, Philips said, and it has already booked an order for an installation in the Netherlands, the conglomerate's home country.
