October 19, 2015 - SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS – October 19, 2015 – GE Healthcare, a division of General Electric Company (NYSE: GE), is introducing the DiscoveryTM RT*, a new advanced radiation therapy planning computed tomography (CT) system at the 57th Annual American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) Meeting in San Antonio, Texas. Discovery RT is a CT simulator that offers a unique set of features that enables flexible patient positioning, software to address challenges presented by patient motion and metal, precise treatment planning and an efficient workflow, all combining to deliver uncompromised radiation therapy planning for oncology patients. CT Simulation is used to duplicate the radiation-treatment machine in terms of its geometric, mechanical, and optical properties by creating a three-dimensional image data set. This data is then used by the clinicians to localize the tumor and plan treatment without physically having the patient present.

Discovery RT boasts an 80 cm bore with an 80 cm field-of-view, enabled by Max Field of View* (MaxFOV), a new feature of this system. MaxFOV delivers CT images with specified spatial and density values to the edge of the bore—an industry first. The large bore and MaxFOV enables the flexibility to position the patients in different treatment positions and then to image the full patient volume for more accurate simulation and therapy planning.

GE Healthcare’s Smart Deviceless 4D technology delivers workflow efficiency and patient comfort in 4D motion assessment. Smart Deviceless 4D provides and displays images of all phases of a breathing cycle, which helps to simplify the motion assessment workflow. Deviceless 4D assesses motion without an external respiratory gating device, another unique feature of the Discovery RT system designed to improve workflow and patient comfort with no compromise to accuracy and precision.
The Discovery RT combines Smart Deviceless 4D technology with Smart Metal Artifact Reduction (MAR) to address two of treatment planning’s biggest challenges – the ability to outsmart metal and motion. When utilizing CT scans, clinicians are often challenged by image distortions caused by high-z metals in the body such as hip prosthesis, screws or dental fillings. Metals often generate streak-like artifacts in CT scans, making it difficult to clearly delineate between tumors and healthy tissue. Smart MAR addresses this challenge with an innovative three-stage, projection-based method designed to address both causes of metal artifacts – photon starvation and beam hardening. This automated approach is designed to reveal anatomic details obscured by metal artifacts.

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