“The first photon-counting CT scanner has been in operation at our university for three years, and it has been a major qualitative leap forward in all segments of our core activities; we have used it to perform 30,000 scans in the time since then. Its excellent image quality allows faster and more reliable diagnosis with less radiation exposure. It has also been an innovation in the training of residents and medical students and has provided many new opportunities to establish scientific collaborations over the last three years. I am very pleased and proud that after the first and thus far only such equipment in the country, we can now inaugurate the second photon-counting CT scanner, which is mainly used in emergency and traumatology care,” said Rector Dr. Béla Merkely in his welcome speech at the inauguration ceremony.
The new machine can perform up to 30,000 scans a year, and it is no exaggeration to say that this is of national significance, as we at Semmelweis University are the first in the world to set up two such excellent devices, he added. From now on, the first machine will be used mainly for planned diagnostic care, while the very fast new CT scanner for emergency and traumatology care. As the rector pointed out, it is no coincidence that the two outstanding machines are serving patient care here, as it is well known that Semmelweis University, as the leading medical and health sciences university in the region, always strives to make progress. The institution’s portfolio is expanding, the Semmelweis Family is growing, the equipment fleet is constantly evolving, the creative spaces are being upgraded, and the clinics are being renewed.
This year we are spending around HUF 50 billion on construction and infrastructure development, the largest amount in the history of our institution. – Dr. Béla Merkely
He said the university was a flagship that had to lead the way in patient care, education, as well as research & innovation. It is exactly in these important areas that the new device is playing a role, he emphasized. In his closing remarks, the rector expressed thanks for the dedicated and highly professional work done to make the best use of the devices, noting that the university held the world record with 150 CT scans performed in one day.
“Before anybody in the world started using photon-counting CT scanners, we had already made concrete measurements with this technology,” emphasized Chancellor Dr. Lívia Pavlik in her welcome speech. She added that when she was informed that the university could obtain another piece of such equipment, she was keen to find the financial means so that it could serve the university’s mission. Speaking of improvements, she stressed that from the very beginning, financial resources had been allocated to the projects in a planned way and with a view to strategic objectives.
Three years ago, Semmelweis University was the first in the world to obtain a device with a photon-counting detector, and since then, outstanding research & development work has been carried out in cooperation with the university, producing fantastic results on a global scale, noted Rita Vincze, Managing Director at Siemens Healthineers. It is thanks to this excellent partnership and cooperation that today we are able to continue on this path, and that the Section of Emergency Radiology of the Medical Imaging Center at Semmelweis University was the first in the world to acquire our NAEOTOM Alpha.Prime CT scanner, which will be launched on the global market in April, she added. Rita Vincze stressed that Siemens considered it very important to have the professors at the university assess the device during the final development phase and, as she said, she was very proud to share their experiences at the Annual Radiology Conference in Chicago in December 2024.
Speaking about the features of the CT scanner, she highlighted its speed, which allows the entire body of a trauma patient to be scanned in less than two seconds, and the resulting image is so detailed that it can accurately detect lesions 0.11 millimeters apart at very low doses of radiation. Other advantages include a wider and shorter, 82-centimeter-long tunnel, for better access to the patient, a 340-kilogram load capacity, which is considered particularly large, and a 120-kilowatt tube, the managing director said, listing the features of the top-of-the-line device.
The first photon-counting CT scanner was brought to the university in 2021, at the same time as its world premiere, and it has proven over the past three years that it can improve patient care and make it more efficient. The innovative technology represents a new dimension of imaging compared to traditional CT scanners, which can be described in simple terms as the difference between a black-and-white and a color photograph, hence the name color CT, began Dr. Pál Maurovich Horvat, Director of the Medical Imaging Center (OKK). More accurate tests due to higher resolution than conventional CT resulted in up to 50 percent of invasive procedures – which are burdensome for patients – being spared, he said, illustrating the benefits of photon-counting technology on the imaging tests of several patients. In addition to the achievements in patient care, the director also highlighted the scientific activities of the past period, during which time some thirty internationally indexed scientific manuscripts have been written through collaborations. We have been included in a consortium for photon-counting CT scanners with our own data, and a significant proportion of these articles have been published in very prestigious journals, he added.
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The second photon-counting CT scanner, which is used in emergency and traumatology care, was installed in one of the busiest CT labs in the region, in which 46,000 CT scans were performed in emergency care in 2023 and 120,000 in 2024. In the first eight weeks, the new machine performed nearly 6,000 scans, averaging 100-110 per day, with stable operation and no breakdowns. According to the director, this also proves that it was a good decision to install the new technology in the Section of Emergency Radiology of the Medical Imaging Center. Dr. Pál Maurovich Horvat also pointed out the advantages of water-cooled operation and the fact that imaging with the new CT scanner results in much fewer artifacts, which also improves diagnostic accuracy.
Anita Szepesi
Translation: Dr. Balázs Csizmadia
Photos by Boglárka Zellei – Semmelweis University
