Siemens launches new CT Scanner for Asia

Siemens Medical Solutions launched its new CT scanner Somatom Smile at Beaufort Hotel on Sentosa Island in Singapore. The company invited 10 journalists from Malaysia, South Korea, the Phillipines, Thailand and Indonesia, including The Jakarta Post's Damar Harsanto.

What is the fundamental difference between a cellular phone and a state-of-the-art piece of medical equipment made by the same brand? In the case of a cell phone, if it doesn't work it only temporarily disrupts communication, but if a crucial piece of medical technology breaks down, it could mean the difference between life and death for a patient.

According to the President of the Asia Pacific Headquarters of Siemens Medical Solutions, Eugene Lee, German firm Siemens is more readily associated as a cellular phone maker than a medical equipment provider.

"Talking about medical devices is a matter of life and death. That's why we need lots of careful preparation before launching any new product," said Eugene Lee on the sidelines of the launching of the company's new computed tomography (CT) scanner, Somatom Smile here last Tuesday.

The new device, touted as "friendly intelligence", is designed more for clinical use than research, and will enter the Indonesian market in the middle of September this year. It will be priced at US$200,000 per unit, much lower than the previous product, CT Scanner Somatom Sensation 4, which cost $1 million. Somatom Sensation 4 is the previous CT scanner but is aimed at higher end users.

The new scanner, according to the Chief Executive Officer of Siemens Computed Tomography Division, Richard Hausmann, will cater for the need of affordable CT scanners from countries that invest less in health care, but still maintain a high diagnostic standard.

Unlike other CT scanners, Somatom Smile does not require much preparation. Other scanners require air conditioners due to the rapid overheating of the X-ray tube.

It also weighs only 600 kilograms and requires less time to install. Other scanners need at least a week to install, while the Somatom Smile is provided with friendly manuals consisting step-by-step instructions that can be set up within three hours.

"It is tailored to help make computed tomography (CT) accessible to private radiology practices, small clinics and hospitals in Asia that want to get a head start in medical imaging quality," the company said in a statement. The Somatom Smile resulted from joint cooperation between Siemens, Siemens Shanghai Medical Equipment in China and ANALOGIC in Boston in the United States.

The Somatom Smile can scan a 30-centimeter wide section of a patient's body in 30 seconds with a 10-millimeter slice. At such a speed, it can handle three patients an hour, or around 20 patients each working day.

The low dose of radiation also enables the device to cool its X-ray tube quickly.

"That's why the device can last longer than other CTs," said Axel Wimmer, Siemens CT Business Development Manager.

CT, which is sometimes called a computer assisted tomography (CAT) scanner, works with an X-ray system that rotates around the body, taking cross-section pictures of body tissues and organs. These pictures are then converted by a computer to form a complete picture, enabling the body's innards to be portrayed precisely.

Somatom Smile uses the latest technology of spiral CT, which has improved the accuracy of CT for many diseases. The term "spiral CT" comes from the shape of the path taken by the X-ray beam during scanning. The examination table advances at a constant rate through the scanner gantry, while the X-ray tube rotates continuously around the patient, tracing a spiral path through the patient. This spiral path gathers continuous data with no gaps between images.

Hausmann revealed his company would also display the new product at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Congress on radiology this September in Bali.

The company aims to sell five units of Somatom Smile a year to hospitals in Indonesia. So far, it has secured an order from one Indonesian hospital.

In a hope to establish closer links with buyers, the company set up The Asia Express Center in April, which is stocked with eight million spare parts with stock available online to all countries. It also provides services and application support to buyers.