TORONTO, Ontario, Canada - GE Medical Systems today announced the availability of the Discovery™ VH, the only dual-detector positron emission tomography/SPECT/computed tomography system currently available, and significant enhancements to its already popular Millennium™ VG Hawkeye system, which was the world's first system to combine a CT with a gamma camera.

Building on the success of Hawkeye, the Discovery™ VH is a hybrid imaging system employing a one-inch crystal on both detectors that fully realizes the clinical benefit of PET/CT imaging. It can also be used as a conventional SPECT or planar nuclear medicine camera for low energy applications.

According to R. Edward Coleman, MD, Director, Division of Nuclear Medicine, and vice chair at the Department of Radiology at Duke University Medical Center, based on both image quality and image efficiency, the new one-inch crystal on the Discovery™ VH has helped make a quantum leap in camera-based PET imaging. "Small lesions that were previously missed are now easily visible, without compromising routine low-energy planar or SPECT image quality," he said.

The thicker crystal dramatically increases the imaging efficiency for higher energies, especially for PET studies. "Our first customers have told us that they are now able to detect 8-10 mm lesions. We attribute that to the one-inch crystal and to higher resolution electronics," said Elizabeth Holland, General Manager for Nuclear Medicine at GE Medical Systems.

Initial clinical results illustrate that with its superb resolution and contrast, the Discovery™ VH offers premier attenuation correction for both cardiac SPECT and PET applications. This benefit has been demonstrated in both Coincidence FDG scans and in SPECT procedures utilizing Gallium 67, Iodine 131, Indium 111 and other isotopes. Combined, these GE offerings provide physicians with improved image quality and resolution, so they have the potential to better diagnose disease and deliver improved patient care.

In addition, the Hawkeye system can now be tailored to meet a wide range of clinical needs. Users now can select GE's accurate CT attenuation correction software for enhanced image quality, or functional anatomic mapping software that eases localization of pathological findings.

To date, there are more than 75 GE Millennium VG Hawkeye systems installed worldwide, and more than 3000 procedures have been performed on Hawkeye systems. By pinpointing disease location including cardiac disease and cancer, Hawkeye images can help doctors more effectively plan surgeries and treatment. Combined with its unique anatomical mapping feature, Hawkeye is reported to have changed patient management in 1 out of 4 cases.

About GE Medical Systems
GE Medical Systems is a $8 billion global leader in medical information and technology. Its offerings include networking and productivity tools, healthcare information systems, patient monitoring systems, conventional and digital X-ray, computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance (MR), ultrasound and bone mineral densitometry, positron emission tomography (PET), and nuclear medicine. For more than 100 years, health care providers worldwide have relied on GE Medical Systems for high quality medical technology, services and productivity solutions. For more information, visit the GE Medical Systems Web site at gemedicalsystems.com.