TOSHIBA’S CT PLAYS INTEGRAL ROLE IN FULL-FACE TRANSPLANT PLANNING

Full-face transplants are new, breakthrough medical procedures that dramatically alter the lives of patients suffering from severe facial disfiguration. At this year’s American Roentgen Ray Society (ARRS) Annual Meeting (Vancouver, British Columbia, April 29 – May 4, 2012), Frank J. Rybicki, M.D., Ph.D.; director, Applied Imaging Science Laboratory; director, Cardiac CT and Vascular CT/MRI, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Department of Radiology; and associate professor, Harvard Medical School, will discuss the role that imaging plays in face transplants during a presentation titled “Wide Area Detector CT Imaging with Face Transplantation.”

In the presentation held on Monday, April 30, 2012, from 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m., Dr. Rybicki will discuss cardiovascular applications of wide area detector CT, as well as imaging of key anatomy for surgical planning support by mapping spatial relationships between blood vessels for surgical anastomoses and other facial structures. Time-resolved CT also separates arteries and veins, and there are potential applications for blood flow.

Toshiba’s Aquilion ONE dynamic volume CT system can capture the entire heart or brain in one rotation and covers up to 16 cm of anatomy using 320 ultra-high-resolution 0.5 mm detector elements. The system can also show an organ’s dynamic blood flow and real-time function. “The high spatial resolution, quick acquisition time and wide-volume coverage of the Aquilion ONE make this system a good fit for planning complex procedures like face transplantation,” said Tim Nicholson, senior manager, Market Development, CT Business Unit, Toshiba. “Working with one of the world’s leading healthcare institutions, we continue to find new and exciting ways to maximize the Aquilion ONE’s technology.”