Siemens Healthcare has announced that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently cleared the Mammomat Fusion - the latest addition to the Siemens family of full-field digital mammography systems that offers premium product features to address the specific needs of volume screening centers and small to medium-sized hospitals.

The Mammomat Fusion mammography system features a new generation cesium-iodide detector - an innovative, layered configuration of the photo diodes within the detector that enables more efficient utilization of the radiation dose. The result: high image quality at a patient dose that is at or below the range of other full-field digital mammography systems, with an even lower dose delivered in cases where the patient's breast thickness exceeds 50 mm. And the system's large image matrix of 23x30 cm makes the Mammomat Fusion the right choice for screening various breast sizes.

In addition to its new cesium-iodide detector, the Mammomat Fusion mammography system features selected technologies developed for Siemens' premium Mammomat Inspiration platform. The OpDose feature ensures that the radiation dose can be tailored for each patient without compromising image quality. The technologist can select the appropriate parameters in accordance with the patient's breast size and density. The screening process is also simplified for clinical staff thanks to the compact, syngo-based Acquisition Workstation (AWS). Users can load patient data directly from the radiology information system without requiring a second workstation. Clinical personnel also benefit from an intuitive, automated workflow. The system is ready for scanning with just one click, and manual positioning is extremely easy - so technologists can spend more time on the patient.

"With the introduction of the competitively priced Mammomat Fusion full-field digital mammography system, Siemens proudly enables more breast centers and smaller hospitals to offer women many of the same cutting-edge technological features previously found only on our premium breast imaging systems," said Mr Martin Silverman, vice-president of X-ray Products at Siemens Healthcare North America.