New GE SPECT/CT Is Rumour No Longer!

Imaging Technology News reports the debut of the new GE Discovery NM/CT 670, the SPECT/CT camera I disclosed to the world last month. This thing is so new it isn't even on the GE website yet. So, I'm left with only the tiny picture from the article:

This still shows us the opposable head SPECT, quite reminiscent of the Varicam and the Hawkeye, (disclosing the Elscint heritage) and a standard GE-looking CT. From the IT article:

GE Healthcare's Discovery NM/CT 670, a hybrid imaging platform designed to improve workflow, dose management, and overall image quality.

The system combines GE Healthcare’s BrightSpeed Elite 16-slice CT, a newly designed SPECT gantry for greater positional flexibility, and the latest advancements in Nuclear Medicine detectors.

The Discovery NM/CT 670 platform incorporates flexible and proven workflow technology advancements from 10 years of Infinia Hawkeye innovations and installations with a modular gantry, designed to embrace tomorrow’s technology today. The BrightSpeed Elite, providing multi-slice CT performance, completes the academic system.

I'll wait to see some specs to allow a full comparison to the Siemens Symbia. Likely the 670 represents serious competition from GE in the SPECT/CT realm. Finally. See, GE? All you have to do is listen to me and you'll have a winner!

Addendum: GE's website now apparently has a listing for the 670, but I get a Server Error when I try it. Maybe you'll have better luck!

In a press release from the 2009 European Association of Nuclear Medicine meeting in Barcelona, GE had this to say:

Maintaining its legacy of innovation, GE Healthcare will announce the launch of the Discovery NM/CT 670, a
hybrid imaging platform, combining the state of the art BrightSpeed Elite 16 slice CT and an advanced SPECT system to improve workflow, dose management, and overall image quality.

“We understand that a clinician does not want to compromise,” said Nathan Hermony, general manager of GE Healthcare’s Nuclear Medicine business. “We are providing the latest in SPECT and CT technology so clinicians can explore new dimensions of disease and provide the best possible treatment and monitoring of the patient. . .”

The Discovery NM/CT 670 is 510(k) pending at FDA. It is not available for sale in the United States.

I might have worded this a little differently, seeing as it is the radiologist, and not the clinician, who will choose the SPECT/CT instrument. And I'm not sure what it means to the GE "legacy of innovation" that they have finally introduced a similar machine to the Symbia, which has been around since 2004.