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AT-NCIGT - The National Center for Advanced Technologies for Image Guided Therapy

Fides Schwartz, MD: Photon-counting CT – What is it and what do we do with it?

 

 

 

 

 

Fides Schwartz, MD
Research Associate in Radiology
Harvard Medical School
Lead Investigator
Center of Advanced CT Translation and Innovation (CACTI)
Brigham and Women’s Hospital

Abstract

Photon-counting Computed Tomography (PCCT) has emerged as a transformative technology with the potential to herald a new era of clinical capabilities. This lecture provides a comprehensive exploration of PCCT, explaining its foundational principles, touching on the diversity of its implementations by various vendors, and showcasing the broad spectrum of clinical applications it enables. We spotlight the inherent challenges of PCCT and the innovative breakthroughs that enabled key features of PCCT, such as enhanced spatial and contrast resolution, material discrimination, and radiation dose efficiency. These principles will be highlighted with examples of the diagnostic opportunities that PCCT offers, opportunities that are poised to make it a pivotal tool in advancing patient care and medical research. Imaging of diseases that were previously invisible or challenging to detect with prior cutting-edge technology is becoming a possibility in many sub-specialties which underscores the imperative for continued exploration and integration of PCCT into routine clinical practice.

Short Bio

Fides Schwartz is currently a Lead Investigator in the newly established Center for Advanced CT Translation and Innovation (CACTI) in the Department of Radiology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Her research interests are in the streamlining of processes for CT imaging within diverse imaging departments, especially for the new technology of PCCT. She is involved in research with all divisions using the PCCTs installed at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital (Emergency Department and Shapiro Center). Previously, she received her MD at the University of Heidelberg, Germany. She completed her Diagnostic Radiology residency at Basel University Hospital in Switzerland and research fellowships in the Duke University Department of Radiology, Durham, NC.

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