Our response to the COVID-19 pandemic

CT imaging helps to evaluate COVID-19 patients and survey their progression

Scanners of the SOMATOM go. platform can be delivered fast to areas where COVID-19 is prevalent. These scanners can also be installed in temporary units to provide access in high-demand or in isolated areas.

Container solutions and other similar deployments with a SOMATOM go. scanner have already proven themselves in numerous other countries, including China, the United Kingdom, Germany, Austria, Poland, and Portugal, to build up the much-needed scanning capacities in the current situation.

Read here how Siemens Healthineers supports Free State of Bavaria in fight against Covid-19 with 12 container-based CT solutions.

syngo Virtual Cockpit is designed to assist scan procedures from a distance. Enabled by syngo Expert-i, expert colleagues receive access to the scanner and can support less experienced technologists – for reproducible results across your entire CT system fleet.

Artificial Intelligence applied to CT images can be a useful tool for the detection of COVID-19 symptoms and to help with follow-up and treatment planning. AI-powered analysis of chest scans has the potential to alleviate the workload of radiologists, who must review and prioritize a rising number of patient chest scans.

Our AI expert teams developed two new algorithms, among them the CT pneumonia analysis¹ newly deployed on our research solutions and ready for trial.

The Mobile Workflow of SOMATOM go. platform scanners permits technologists to maintain a distance of at least 1.5 m (5 ft) from potentially infected patients. Scan&GO is the installed application on a wireless mobile tablet allowing to:

• Anticipate potential breathing artifacts
• Control scans remotely and check images, right after the scan, on your tablet

In a recent study, a number COVID-19 pneumonia patients had between 3 and 6 scans in a short period of time. Radiation dose could therefore be a concern. Tin Filter technology is available in all our modern scanners offering radiation exposure control while monitoring the progress of symptoms in a patient.²

When scanning COVID-19 patients, myExam Companion individualizes dose and scan settings by identifying input from the patient and asking the technologists about the clinical indication. The answers are linked to predefined scan parameters and postprocessing tasks³:

• Patients with suspected COVID-19 are typically scanned with the high-resolution technique and additional reconstructions: coronal and sagittal
• Follow-up procedures can be scanned with Tin Filter in order to reduce the dose to a minimum level similar to that of a screening procedure
• The acquisition speed can also be tailored to the breath-hold capabilities of the patient
  

The FAST 3D Camera takes visual and infrared data from the patient lying on the table of the CT scanner.⁴ The measured data are used to calculate the starting position of the scan as well as the best height to support accurate isocenter position. Positioning the patient in the isocenter is a precondition to enable the lowest possible dose and consistent image quality. The table can then be moved to the calculated position at a push of a button.

For COVID-19 patients in particular it is important that the radiographer can use touch panels on the gantry covers or even wireless mobile tablets⁵ in order to operate the FAST 3D Camera and even the remote control to move the table to the scan position. This allows, the radiographer to position with accuracy and with a minimal need for close contact to an infected patient.

In cases of severe respiratory symptoms, the Turbo Flash mode enables subsecond acquisition speeds for the thorax. In this acute care scenario, our ultrafast Stellar^Infinity detector technology delivers consistent image quality while minimizing breathing artifacts. This technology is available on Dual Source CT scanners (SOMATOM Force, SOMATOM Drive).

Pitch: 3
Scan time: 0.45 s
Scan length: 313.6 mm
Rotation time: 0.25 s
Sn100 kV
CTDI_vol: 0.30 mGy
DLP: 11 mGy cm

_{Courtesy of University Medical Center Mannheim, Mannheim, Germany}