Wipro GE Healthcare inaugurated India’s first Digital PET MR at the State Cancer Institute GMC, Guwahati, Assam today. GE’s SIGNA™ PET/MR 2.0 is the fourth PET MR scanner in  India and the first digital one. In addition, the device is the country’s first time of flight and fully integrated PET (positron emission tomography) / MR. The PET/MR was launched by Shri. M. Venkaiah Naidu, Hon’ble  Vice President of India and in the presence of Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma, Chief Minister of Assam and Shri. Keshab Mahanta – Minister Health & Family Welfare, at State Cancer Institute, GMC, Guwahati. The ability of this device to conduct two examinations simultaneously, will lead to better patient outcomes

The integrated capabilities of the SIGNA PET/MR allows innovative and complex research while simultaneously conducting functional neuro imaging, cardiac imaging, and musculoskeletal imaging. With the integrated knowledge, clinicians can shorten the time between diagnosis and treatment, in addition to offering the convenience of simultaneous PET and MR scans for oncology, cardiology and neurology patients. This is because the device is built with proprietary time-of-flight (TOF) Silicon Photomultiplier (SiPM) detectors and the exceptional sensitivity of 25mm deep Lutetium-based crystals.

Dr Shravan Subramanyam, Managing Director, Wipro GE Healthcare said, “Innovations such as these play a significant role in strengthening precision healthcare. GE’s SIGNA™ PET/MR 2.0 includes a comprehensive suite of applications and flexible research tools to pursue ideas that can influence the future of medicine. The device is packed with features and holds merit in both clinical and research applications. While MR is the best procedure for imaging soft tissue as well as functional and morphological details, PET enables clinicians to visualize cellular activity and metabolism.”

 Dr. Bibhash C Goswami, Director at the State Cancer Institute, GMC, Guwahati said, “Out of 39,000 new cancer cases that are reported in the Northeast of India every year, Assam alone contributes 29,000 cases. Keeping these startling numbers in mind, the Governmemt of Assam decided to install the GE’s SIGNA™ PET/MR 2.0 in the State Cancer Institute. We truly believe that with the help of this device, our clinicians will be able to provide faster diagnosis and decide on the best treatment for the patients with a better understanding of the underlying problem.”

The SIGNA™ PET/MR 2.0 is powered by simultaneous image acquisition from GE’s latest 3.0 Tesla MR technology and PET technology. When these two powerful tools are combined, clinicians will be able to see early cellular changes that can be accurately mapped on to MR images.