FDA Clears United Imaging Healthcare uExplorer Total-Body Scanner

Combination PET-CT scanner captures 3-D picture of the whole human body at one bed position

United Imaging Healthcare (United Imaging) announced U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) clearance of the uExplorer total-body scanner. uExplorer is the world's first nuclear imaging scanner that can capture a 3-D picture of the whole human body at one bed position, according to the company. The system was developed by United Imaging in partnership with the Explorer Consortium led by Simon Cherry, Ph.D., and Ramsey Badawi, Ph.D., from the University of California, Davis.

uExplorer is a combined positron emission tomography (PET) and X-ray computed tomography (CT) scanner that can image the entire human body at the same time.

The developers expect the technology will have a wide range of applications, from improving diagnostics to tracking disease progression to researching new therapies. For example, uExplorer will be used to better visualize cancer that has spread beyond a single tumor site. Researchers also envision using the scanner to measure blood flow across the entire body, and study inflammation, infections and immunological/metabolic disorders.

United Imaging developed the system based on its latest hardware and software platform, focusing on not only delivering the target performances but also making such a large system more robust and user-friendly. The first images from scans of humans using the new device were unveiled at the 104th Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) annual meeting, Nov. 25-30 in Chicago.