News | Press Releases

January 19, 2011

TOSHIBA PRESENTS Aquilion PRIME, THE NEXT GENERATION MULTISLICE CT SCANNER.

Aquilion™ PRIME

The new 160-slice MDCT scanner, Aquilion™ PRIME is the latest addition to the Aquilion ONE™ family with the key feature "Adaptive Iterative Dose Reduction (AIDR)" an iterative reconstruction algorithm, which has been designed to further enhance clinical examinations.

Otawara, Tochigi, Japan, January 19, 2011 - Toshiba Medical Systems Corporation has introduced Aquilion PRIME, a new 160-slice multislice CT scanner incorporating the latest technologies from the flagship Aquilion ONE scanner. Aquilion PRIME is the next-generation standard in TOSHIBA's premium-class multislice CT scanners for customers who need to perform a wide variety of routine clinical examinations as well as advanced applications in a streamlined workflow to obtain clinical images of maximum quality at a minimal amount of radiation.

"As part of Toshiba's commitment to deliver innovative technologies to meet our customers' medical imaging needs including dose reduction, Aquilion PRIME has been developed as a next-generation standard." said Yasuo Nobuta, vice president, and general manager, CT Systems Division, Toshiba Medical Systems Corporation. "With AIDR and advanced dose reduction technologies such as Active Collimator, Aquilion PRIME provides excellent image quality at a low radiation dose."

New Product Features

• "Ultra Low Dose Examination"

  The introduction of AIDR lowers the noise level by up to 50% and the patient dose by up to 75% compared to conventional scanners. Images iteratively processed with AIDR show much lower noise levels in comparison to standard reconstructions at the same tube current level, using identical dose. AIDR is seamlessly integrated into the scanner workflow assuring superb image quality at a minimum dose for every patient.

  To reduce the dose even further, Aquilion PRIME comes standard with Active Collimator. The collimator is used to minimize the effects of helical over-ranging and reduce patient exposure by blocking out excess exposure at the beginning and end of a helical exam. It is available in all helical protocols on the scanner to eliminate exposure that is not used for diagnosis.

• "Ultra Fast Workflow"

  With Aquilion PRIME, high-speed reconstruction of up to 50 images/s can be performed in parallel to high-speed scanning, allowing images to be instantly available for review as the patient is leaving the scan room.

  The combination of the new Quantum detector, 0.35 s gantry rotation speed, and state of the art reconstruction technology allows many examinations to be performed in mere seconds improving patient care especially for trauma and pediatric patients.

  The 780 mm wide bore in the new eVolution gantry is 60 mm larger than its predecessor. The wide bore is designed to enhance patient access and positioning especially for critically ill patients and for interventional procedures.

• "ONE family Application"

  The sophisticated suite of clinical applications that have been developed for Aquilion ONE is also incorporated into Aquilion PRIME with two new additions - Dual Energy and Lung Volume Measurement.

  Dual-energy imaging is an advanced imaging technique, which has become one of the forefronts in recent CT development. It can increase the amount of information about tissue composition by applying X-rays at two different energies. With Toshiba's unique Dual Energy helical scanning, exposure is made only from the tableside of the patient. This technique not only reduces the dose, but also minimizes exposure to radiosensitive organs such as the breasts and eye lens to provide safer exams for patients.

  Lung volume measurement automatically detects and measures areas in the lung of low attenuation indicating areas of emphysema. Total lung volume and low attenuation volumes are calculated and displayed in 3D.

• "Environmentally Friendly"

  The ONE family's eVolution gantry not only routinely performs at 0.35 s rotation speed, it also converts the energy expended slowing the gantry down into energy stored for powering other components within the gantry rather than heat expelled into the scan room, making Aquilion PRIME environmentally friendly.

Early release in Europe and Asia

Prior to the official launch, the Aquilion PRIME was installed in the Netherlands and Singapore.

Rode Kruis Ziekenhuis (Red Cross Hospital), Beverwijk, The Netherlands, is a general hospital recognized nationally and internationally for its world class Burns Unit. Aquilion PRIME was installed in the radiology department in November 2010.

Mount Elizabeth Hospital (Singapore) became the first site in Asia to install the Aquilion PRIME in November 2010. As one of Asia's leading tertiary acute care private hospitals under the Parkway Group, the Hospital installed the Aquilion PRIME to achieve higher quality and more responsible CT examinations for patients.

The success of the Aquilion CT scanners

The Toshiba Aquilion is one of the most successful CT scanner in the industry, with over 3,000 Aquilion 64-detector row systems installed worldwide. On December 16, 2010, the company celebrated the production of its 25,000^th CT system.

About Toshiba Medical Systems Corporation

Toshiba Medical Systems Corporation was established in October 2003, when the Medical Systems Division of Toshiba Corporation became an independent group company specializing in medical diagnostic imaging systems. The company is a leading worldwide provider of diagnostic imaging systems and comprehensive medical solutions, such as CT, X-ray and vascular, ultrasound, nuclear medicine, and MRI systems, as well as information systems for medical institutions.

*Aquilion ONE and Aquilion are trademarks of Toshiba Medical Systems Corporation.