Big Scanner In The Big Apple

Following our recent visit to Ann Arbor, we went to New York to see a Philips Precedence SPECT/CT in action. We had a long look at the scanner and the computer, and spent an incredible time with Dr. S., whose Nuclear Medicine knowledge I could only hope to faintly imitate. I'm thinking of submitting the time as CME; that's how much I learned.  

The Precedence itself is HUGE, although it would probably fit the room where it needs to be placed. The SPECT part of the machine consists of two heads on articulating arms, as you can see above, basically a stationary version of the SKYLight, of which we already have two. The CT is a nice 16 slice unit. The computer system is the Extended Brilliance Workspace (EBW), which is unified across the Philips line, more or less, anyway, and it is fairly powerful. We will probably mostly use our Segami Oasis and TeraRecon (if it ever arrives) for most of the processing, though.

Now, if all decisions were made by how much fun one has on the site visit, well, it's hard to top The Big Apple. (Elscint once took me and a former partner to Israel and Germany, after the company was bought by GE, and the stuff we went to see was never put into production.) 

Having a few hours to kill before our flight back to the boonies, we went down to Ground Zero to see the new Freedom Tower:

Then it was off to Times Square, where we encountered the Naked Cowboy:

He was not really naked, as he was wearing a pair of Fruit of the Loom's, but a guitar hides a multitude. I texted the photo to Mrs. Dalai, who, miffed that I was having fun in NYC, responded, "Looks like you're working hard." I responded, "So is ...." ummm...never mind.

Here is Kathi, our Department Director, and Gerald, the Philips rep, enjoying the sites of Times Square. Notice that the camera is pointed up, and not at Naked Cowboy. 

Kathi was quite traumatized by our various cab rides. After my trip to Peru, nothing they can do bothers me, although had one of the drivers actually struck the two pedestrians he was aiming for, that might have reached my threshold of attention.

When you have only a few hours in New York, you have to make them count. We had a great lunch at the Atlantic Grill, but for me the absolute highlight of a trip to Manhattan is a stop at the Carnegie Deli:

You won't find these matzoh balls in a jar!

Despite the cabbies' best efforts, we did make it back home safely. Time to make some decisions...