Medical devices provider GE HealthCare is set to unveil the SIGNA PET/MR AIR at the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI) 2023 annual meeting.

The system integrates GE HealthCare's advanced AIR technologies with the SIGNA PET/MR AIR, offering enhanced diagnostic precision, simplified treatment evaluation, and improved patient comfort.

A deep learning-based MR image reconstruction feature, AIR Recon DL ensures improved image quality while reducing scan time by up to 50%. The innovative AIR Coil technology seamlessly adapts to the shape of the human body, enhancing the quality of MR imaging and maximising patient comfort. Providing a thinner and lighter solution, supporting more accurate PET quantitation compared to conventional rigid RF coils.

Reliable and comprehensive imaging solutions play a crucial role in the care journey of patients, especially those affected by high-prevalence diseases such as prostate cancer and Alzheimer's disease. Identifying this need, GE HealthCare has incorporated its unique AIR technologies into the SIGNA PET/MR AIR to address these changing demands.

One breakthrough enabled by the SIGNA PET/MR AIR is in the diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer. As the second most prevalent cancer worldwide, prostate cancer care has undergone a transformation with the introduction of prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA)-targeted radiotracers for imaging diagnostics and theranostics. The integration of these radiotracers with GE HealthCare's high-sensitivity PET and the anatomical precision of MRI in SIGNA PET/MR AIR has the potential for accurate diagnosis and staging/re-staging of prostate cancer and can aid in the selection of patients for PSMA-targeted radioligand therapy.

The recent approval of drugs with disease-modifying potential highlights the need for additional imaging using both MR and PET. SIGNA PET/MR AIR incorporates the industry's most sensitive time-of-flight (ToF) PET detector in a PET/MR system, allowing clinicians to achieve the earliest possible diagnosis, gain insights into disease progression, and detect adverse effects in a single scan.

One of the notable challenges in imaging exams is patient movement. The MotionFree Brain PET technology on the SIGNA PET/MR AIR addresses this challenge without external tracking devices. By managing motion during imaging exams, it ensures consistent image quality. This capability has the potential to enable faster and more accurate diagnoses while minimising the need for repeat scans.