Scottish Hospitals To Lead The Way In Advanced Full-Field Digital Mammography

Main Category: MRI / PET / Ultrasound
Also Included In: Radiology / Nuclear Medicine;  Breast Cancer
Article Date: 18 Apr 2008 - 1:00 PDT

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Siemens has been appointed to the Scottish Procurement Framework and has been awarded a contract for nine advanced mammography systems.

The newly developed MAMMOMAT Inspiration, Siemens' first new generation Full-Field Digital Mammography system, will be delivered and installed into eight hospitals in Scotland during spring and early summer.

The MAMMOMAT Inspiration has been specifically developed from the input and inspiration of healthcare professionals to combine speed, superior image quality and patient examination comfort. It is an ideal device for early breast cancer detection and is upgradable to stereotactic biopsy and 3D imaging using tomosynthesis.

The equipment selection process involved a team of five Scottish healthcare professionals visiting Germany to see the first European hospital installation of the Inspiration. The feedback on the functionality was one of the factors in the business award process.

Six hospitals will see the units being installed by early April 2008. The sites include St John's Hospital at Howden, Livingston; Borders General Hospital, Melrose; and NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde's Glasgow Royal Infirmary, Western Infirmary, Victoria Infirmary and Stobhill Hospital. A further 3 units will be installed during early summer at Western General Hospital, Edinburgh (two units); and Queen Margaret Hospital, Dunfermline.

Bill Dempster, Commodity Manager, National Procurement, NHS National Services Scotland, commented, "The Procurement Process was conducted in line with OJEU rules and regulations and was very competitive. Siemens gained the highest marks and were awarded the business for the first nine units."

"We are delighted to have been appointed to the Scottish Procurement Framework and been awarded the first nine Full-Field Digital Mammography units," states Andrew Pattison, Director of Diagnostic Ultrasound & Women's Health at Siemens. "The MAMMOMAT Inspiration has a range of unique characteristics that focus on reducing the patient's anxiety during the examination procedure. Mammographers will need to increasingly rely on fast and efficient systems that deliver a high patient throughput - the Inspiration has been designed to meet breast screening needs in addition to symptomatic breast examinations."

The MAMMOMAT Inspiration has been created to fulfil the needs of the patient, user and clinician. It uses new breast compression technologies and mood lighting for enhanced patient comfort; the isocentric rotation of the X-ray tube and examination functionality have been carefully designed to offer easy and fast workflow to improve patient throughput and image resolution of the whole breast is advanced for detailed diagnosis.

Offering 27 seconds between exposure times and 18 seconds between exposure and display of high-resolution digital images, the MAMMOMAT Inspiration can examine more than 15 patients per hour. This is highly beneficial in high throughput screening environments that demand speed. Furthermore, a special X-ray tube with a tungsten anode and new AEC algorithms that individually compute the dose according to the size of the breast and the type of tissue ensure the lowest possible dose.

The compact size and open design of the system is complemented by a unique MoodLight feature that emits soothing pastel colours into the patient examination area. Colour tones can be personally selected by the user to change throughout the screening process to promote relaxation.

The MAMMOMAT Inspiration operates alongside a slender syngo-based Acquisition Workstation. This can be customised to the user's desired height and offers an easy-to-use interface. A simple upgrade will ensure seamless transition to the future functionality of stereotactic biopsy and to 3D imaging using tomosynthesis. With the MAMMOMAT Inspiration, screening, diagnosis and tomosynthesis will be based on a single digital platform for the first time.

Siemens Healthcare is one of the world's largest suppliers to the healthcare industry. The company is a renowned medical solutions provider with core competence and innovative strength in diagnostic and therapeutic technologies as well as in knowledge engineering, including information technology and system integration. With its laboratory diagnostics acquisitions, Siemens Healthcare is the first fully integrated diagnostics company, bringing together imaging and lab diagnostics, therapy and healthcare information technology solutions, supplemented by consulting and support services. Siemens Healthcare delivers solutions across the entire continuum of care â€" from prevention and early detection, to diagnosis, therapy and care. The company employs more than 49,000 people worldwide and operates in 130 countries. In the fiscal year 2007 (Sept. 30), Siemens Healthcare reported sales of €9.85 billion, orders of €10.27 billion and group profit of €1.32 billion.

Siemens Healthcare