heartbeats, and X-rays are turned on only during the required cardiac phase - they're turned off completely at all other times. Additionally, the VCT-XT is able to take both brain and cardiac images in one exam, and can scan the entire body in less than 10 seconds, or an organ in a second.

GE's LightSpeed VCT XT features VolumeShuttle and SnapShot Pulse--two diagnostic cardiac and neuro perfusion exams. SnapShot Pulse technology (prospectively gated diagnostic cardiac CT exam) has been proven by clinicians performing thousands of exams at sites around the world to reduce a patient's radiation exposure. GE's innovative VolumeShuttle technology delivers twice the anatomical coverage (80mm) with up to 24% less radiation exposure compared to a conventional 40mm cine perfusion protocol.

Philips Technology
Philips' Brilliance iCT scanner, a 256-slice CT, is also designed to reduce patients' exposure to X-rays. The scan is much quicker, as the machine's X-ray emitting gantry -- the giant ring-shaped part that surrounds the patient -- can rotate four times in a single second, which is 22 percent faster than current systems.

Ultimately, patients and providers will need to determine whether the benefits of early disease detection supported by medical imaging are worth the risk of radiation exposure. As OEMs come up with newer, better, and safer technologies, that equation may swing in favor of widespread medical imaging.

For More Information

Read the NEJM findings here:
http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/357/22/2277

Read the RSNA statement here:
http://www.rsna.org/media/pressreleases/pr_target.cfm?ID=348

Read a statement from the Medical Imaging & Technology Alliance (MITA) at www.dotmed.com/news/story/5165.

Read about ECRI Institute at www.dotmed.com/news/story/3566.

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