There’s a new CAT in town!

No Gravatar

Many, many moons ago, we had the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of animals.  We were retained to develop a portable x-ray machine.  That way veterinarians would have the ability to set broken bones for animals in the field- without the need to transport the animals- or to have them restrained for long times as they were transported.

And, now, Ran Poliakine and Masuya Hitoshi are going to do the same for CT scanning- for humans!  You know, those terribly expensive, large devices that drive us nuts (ok- at least, me!) forcing us into confined spaces.  (Thankfully, it’s only the MRI devices that bombard our brains with loud noises.)

The CT device (computerized tomography) scan is nothing but a series of x-ray images that are taken at various angles; those images and then processed  by computer to provide detailed cross-sectional images of our bones, blood vessels, and some of the soft tissues in our body.  These images provide far more information than could a conventional x-ray.  (Not all breaks or trauma is visible, unless full circumferential images are taken.)

nanoX device

Moreover, this new device sold by nanoX (an Israeli company) can fit into a suitcase, be assembled and ready to go in a jiffy.   Oh, wait- the other difference is that instead of spending some $ 3KK for a CT (or CAT) scanner, we only have to drop about $ 10K to acquire this device.   (nanoX has partnered with the largest South Korean telecom operator, SK Telecom, to help bring this device to the world.)

With the goal of producing and selling about 15000 of these devices in under two years, nanoX is hoping that we all receive full body scans each year.  Why?  Because the possibility of such data will enable rapid and early detection of cancers.  And, early detection renders curability closer to 90%.

nanoX and conventional x-ray sources

It should be evident that this new device will also deliver a very low x-ray dosage to the patients.  In a conventional x-ray device, there is an analog tungsten filament (hot cathode x-ray tube).  But, nanoX uses cold cathode technology, nano-scale chips- which means far better power management, functionality, and efficiency.  Think of this improvement akin to using LED’s instead of the big incandescent light bulbs.

And, as I’ve reported many times, this technology was not developed de novo.  No, instead of a completely new breakthrough, this device builds upon Sony technology that was employed to produce the ‘next generation’ television.

nanoX KVP v conventional

Conventional (aka legacy) x-ray sources use a single energy level per source. Peak kilovoltage (KVP), the factor that controls the quality of the x-ray beam produced, affects the contrast (or gray-scale) of the produced image.  The higher the KVP, the lower the contrast between soft tissue and bone- and it affects the ability of the beam to penetrate the body.  (Radiation dosage is related to the square of the kilovoltage applied.)  The milliampere (MA, the quantity of the electrical  current) sets the number of x-rays produced.

nanoX can provide multi-spectrum, multi-energy level imaging.  This means nanoX can vary the KVP/MA settings in milliseconds, allowing the dosage to adjust to different anatomical configurations and tissue densities. (The milliamperes can also be set independently of the KVP, since the energy is developed in a different fashion  than would happen with hot cathode ray tubes.)

Get ready for a major disruption in radiology.Roy A. Ackerman, Ph.D., E.A.

Share this:
Share this page via Email Share this page via Stumble Upon Share this page via Digg this Share this page via Facebook Share this page via Twitter
Share

6 thoughts on “There’s a new CAT in town!”

  1. Hi Roy.
    This sounds very promising. I imagine with more use they will find better ways of improving the images produced now that they have control of more variables.
    The lower energy levels is a benefit all the way around. 🙂

Comments are closed.