Otawara, Japan, October 13th 2015-Canon Medical Systems Corporation (President: Toshio Takiguchi; Headquarters: Otawara, Tochigi, Japan) has launched global sales of the Canon 3-tesla MRI system Vantage Titan™ 3T / iS Edition (iS: intelligent Solution). In order to fully satisfy the clinical demands, Vantage Titan 3T / iS Edition incorporates the new gradient coil system employed in Saturn Gradient, which enables higher image quality with open-bore MRI systems. It also provides a suite of advanced applications, achieving robust, efficient, and highly accurate examinations in the safe and reliable environments.
Development background
By incorporating innovative RF transmission technique Multi-phase Transmission, Vantage Titan 3T have brought abdomen imaging into the clinical settings, which had been difficult with conventional 3T MRI systems. In order to expand the possibility of 3T MRI systems, the system’s clinical functions are significantly enhanced to provide Intelligent Solutions, which comes from the key system concepts of “Superior and Sophisticated”, “Streamlined”, and “Secure and Serene”. In addition, to meet the market demand for a compact system, the required installation space has been minimized to 36 m2.
Features of the new product
1. “Superior and Sophisticated”
Incorporating both a large-aperture open bore and higher gradient field output increases heat generation and vibration of the gradient coil during image acquisition, adversely affecting image quality. The new gradient coil system employed in Saturn Gradient system, released in November 2014, features high cooling capability and vibration suppression. Shift of the center frequency due to heat generation and signal dispersion due to vibration are suppressed, which results in high SNR. As a result, high-quality images can be acquired consistently. From Vantage Titan 3T / iS Edition, all Canon 3T MRI models employ the new gradient coil system.
In order to satisfy a wider variety of clinical needs, many new applications are installed in the latest software. More flexible parameter edit supported by a new sequence development environment allows full use of the system capabilities, making it possible to scan with UTE (Ultrashort TE). This technique visualizes tissues with an extremely short T2* value, enabling visualization of regions which had been difficult to depict with conventional MRI systems. It expands the capability of MRI examinations to new regions such as the lung fields.
2. “Streamlined”
Nowadays, there are growing demands for MRI to increase the number of daily examinations to maximize the system productivity. Canon MRI systems provide the answers to support efficient examinations for a wide variety of body regions. EasyTech, a function to automatically set scan slices by analyzing the shape of the target anatomy, has been enhanced to offer both higher examination throughput and reproducibility. The new EasyTech incorporates the advanced scanning plane positioning function: NeuroLine+ to support head scan, CardioLine+ for cardiac scan, and SpineLine for spinal scan. With CardioLine+, in addition to automatically set six basic cardiac planes, further eight-planes setting become available: right ventricle, valve and outflow tract. The newly installed SUREVOITM Cardiac automatically detects appropriate settings for cardiac examinations by recognizing the position of the heart, providing easier and more efficient workflow with higher reproducibility.
3. “Secure and Serene”
The security of medical equipment is now an extremely important issue. Conventional security software programs require regular updating of data in order to provide protection against unknown viruses. Vantage Titan 3T / iS Edition employs Windows® 7 and whitelist-based security software that permits only software programs registered in the whitelist to be executed. Thus the system is protected from unknown viruses and other malicious software, system downtime is reduced, contribution to the spread of infections via networks is averted, and leakage of patient information is prevented*1. Together with Vantage Titan, which is the world’s first 1.5T MRI system to comply with the network security guidelines by the United States Department of Defense, Vantage Titan 3T / iS Edition has received Approval To Operate (ATO) from the United States Air Force*2. Moreover, alert functions for system abnormalities have been strengthened, and a quick reset function for the hardware has been added. These functions, together with the conventional remote maintenance function and various other features, help minimize the system down time.
Environmental considerations
For Vantage Titan 3T / iS Edition, new advanced RF coils become available, which further enhance the system performance. The new Atlas SPEEDER™ Head/Neck incorporates a tilt mechanism that helps imaging of elderly patients and patients with spinal cord injuries, in the past making MRI examination difficult to perform. This feature allows such patients to be positioned in a shorter time and permits them to be examined in a more comfortable position. In addition, 16ch Tx/Rx Knee SPEEDER is also available. This transmit and receive coil provides better image quality for knee, allowing to acquire high-resolution images, which is clinically required for knee examinations. Easy-to-operate locking mechanism is applied to this coil, allowing fine patient positioning and enhance daily throughput.
*1：In the blacklist method generally used at homes and offices, data is required for detecting and eliminating viruses. This data needs to be updated regularly, and periodic scanning of the system is required. These processes apply additional load to the system, affecting system performance. In addition, if updating of the data is neglected, this method does not provide protection for the latest vulnerability issues. On the other hand, in the whitelist method that we have employed, only the programs required for MRI operations (which are registered in the security software) can be executed. Thus updating of virus-related data is not required, and stable operation of the MRI system can be ensured.
*2：It is necessary to set “Advanced Security Setting” to ON.
About Canon Medical Systems Corporation
Canon Medical Systems Corporation is a leading worldwide provider of medical diagnostic imaging systems and comprehensive medical solutions, such as CT, X-ray and vascular, ultrasound, nuclear medicine, and MRI systems, as well as information systems for medical institutions. Canon Medical Systems Corporation has been providing medical products for over 80 years. Canon Medical Systems Corporation is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Canon. Visit Canon Medical Systems Corporation’s web site at https://global.medical.canon/
Vantage Titan and SUREVOI are trademarks of Canon Medical Systems Corporation.
Windows is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and other countries.
