| In Response to the Technetium Shortage UltraSPECT Offers Thallium Imaging Solutions in Nuclear Cardiology: Enhanced-Resolution Single-Isotope and
Reduced-Dose, Shorter-Time Dual-Isotope Cardiac Imaging with
No Trade-Off in Imaging Time and Image Quality
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Auburndale, Massachusetts, March 9, 2010 — UltraSPECT, a leading
provider of Nuclear Medicine image reconstruction products for enhancing the
performance of gamma cameras by shortening acquisition times, enabling reduced
radiopharmaceutical doses and increasing image resolution, announced today that
its two cardiac products,
Xpress.CardiacTM and
Xpress3.CardiacTM, support Tl-201 imaging. These products
utilize UltraSPECT's proprietary WBRTM image reconstruction
capabilities to enable reduced-dose and enhanced-resolution Thallium imaging,
providing an imaging alternative that can help the NM practitioners cope with
the disruptions expected in Technetium supplies and mitigate their impact on
the NM practice.
Due to the impact of the Canadian reactor shutdown combined with the recently
announced six-month repair plan of the Dutch reactor, the global shortage of
Tc-99m is expected to remain grave in the next few months, leaving the practice
of Nuclear Medicine in a very precarious position:
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Inability to provide patients with needed Nuclear Medicine tests |
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Longer delays in scheduling of exams for most patients |
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Use of reduced-dose imaging protocols with risk of inadequate clinical outcomes |
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Loss of business to other imaging modalities such as CTA, Echo and cardiac PET. |
UltraSPECT's clinically proven imaging alternatives using the FDA-cleared and
CE mark-approved Xpress.Cardiac and Xpress3.Cardiac products help weather this
period. The products, in addition to allowing the utilization of lower dose
imaging protocols using Tc-99m with no compromise in terms of imaging
acquisition times and diagnostic value, support reduced-dose and
enhanced-resolution Tl-201 imaging, thus alleviating the impact of the
Technetium shortage, while at the same time reducing patient exposure to
radiation. UltraSPECT products feature connectivity to the imaging systems of
all three major NM camera manufacturers, supporting most existing camera
hardware and workstation versions.
The Tl-201 Stress/Rest protocol using the Xpress.Cardiac is performed with scan
times and radiopharmaceutical doses as defined by ASNC imaging guidelines, but
with the resulting Stress and Redistribution Rest images displayed in
unprecedented image resolution. John Zeitz, M.D., Chief of Nuclear Medicine at
Beaumont Hospital in Troy, MI stated, "UltraSPECT has allowed us to acquire
high-quality gated SPECT images with Tl-201, without increasing scan times.
Previously, we would have to increase our imaging time by 50% in order to
achieve decent image quality for the gated cine reconstruction."
The one-day dual-isotope (Tl-201 and Tc-99m) protocol performed with the
Xpress3.Cardiac combines reduced doses with shorter scan times. Reduced-dose,
shorter-scan-time Rest Tl-201 imaging is followed by reduced-dose,
shorter-scan-time Tc-99m Stress imaging, rendering the procedure safer and more
comfortable for the patient, while ensuring sustained/increased patient
throughput for the practice:
Rest: Tl-201, 2 mCi (female) / 3 mCi (male); 20sec. per stop.
Stress: Tc-99m, 20 mCi (female) / 30 mCi (male); 10sec. per stop.
"The advantage of dual-isotope MPI using UltraSPECT's WBR is the ability to
reduce the Tl-201 dose to such a level that the effective radiation dose to the
patient is similar to that of Tc-99m protocols without compromising image
quality, making the procedure safer for patients," explained Michael Wilk,
Ph.D., Director of R&D at UltraSPECT. "Moreover, WBR generates Thallium
rest images that are comparable in resolution to the Technetium stress images."
Dual-isotope imaging: reduced-dose, shorter-scan-time Rest images acquired with
2mCi Tl-201 at 20 sec/frame, courtesy of Mayo Clinic.
Dual-isotope imaging: reduced-dose, shorter-scan-time Stress images acquired
with 20 mCi Tc-99m at 10 sec/frame, courtesy of Mayo Clinic.
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