October 28, 2009 – Featuring the lowest dose and the fastest scan speed on the market, Siemens Healthcare’s SOMATOM Definition Flash dual-source computed tomography (CT) scanner is now poised to assist Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children, Orlando, Fla., to better serve its pediatric patients.
The SOMATOM Definition Flash requires only a fraction of the radiation dose that systems previously required to scan even the tiniest anatomical details. Parents and pediatric patients will benefit from this technology by not having to worry about sedation that otherwise would have been required for CT imaging. Breath hold is also optional with the Flash technology where images are acquired in the blink of an eye.
The staff and administration at Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children understand the value that using low dose and rapid imaging in one scanner can have to their patients. Dose reduction strategies are most critical since the younger the patient, the greater the impact radiation can have.
The SOMATOM Definition Flash scanner was designed to reduce dose to patients. In addition, the unique X-CARE application selectively reduces the radiation exposure to dose-sensitive anatomical regions, such as thyroid, gonads, and breast region, by as much as 40 percent. An adaptive dose shield blocks irrelevant radiation during spiral scanning, thus ensuring that only a clinically essential radiation exposure occurs. This enables an additional 25 percent reduction of the dose required for routine examinations.
“We are extremely pleased to be the first dedicated pediatric hospital in the world to provide this new technology,” said John Bozard, president, Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children. “For our young patients, the SOMATOM Definition Flash scanner means faster images, reduced radiation exposure, and significantly lessens the need for contrast dye injections.”
As children and babies are at a great risk to radiation exposure, the awareness of the ALARA (As Low As Reasonably Achievable) principle is, in particular, a more sensitive issue for parents, patients and healthcare providers.
Owing to its high scanning speed, the SOMATOM Definition Flash also features new possibilities for performing CT examinations of the adult heart in the sub-millisiervert (mSv) range. This represents up to a much lower radiation dose than is obtainable with conventional systems. For the first time ever, the heart can thus be examined at a radiation exposure level that is three times lower than the background radiation a person naturally absorbs in a year. The SOMATOM Definition Flash is the only CT scanner on the market that enables the use of noninvasive cardiological diagnostic techniques with routine applications at the lowest possible radiation exposure levels routinely below 1 mSv.
For more information: www.siemens.com/healthcare and www.arnoldpalmerhospital.com
July 23, 2025 
