Siemens Biograph mCT
Manufacturer: Siemens Healthineers · Modality: PET/CT
Siemens's Time-of-Flight PET/CT from the 2010s. Direct competitor to the GE Discovery 690 in the premium pre-digital PET/CT segment. LSO (lutetium oxyorthosilicate) crystals, ToF timing, multiple CT-side options.
What makes mCT distinct
- LSO crystals (similar properties to LYSO) — ToF-capable, fast scintillation
- TrueV detector — ~25 cm axial FOV (larger than Discovery 690's 15.7 cm) — faster whole-body protocols
- CT options — 40 / 64 / 128-slice CT, Straton tube, TwinBeam dual-energy
- xSPECT-compatible reconstruction (software)
- Quad-HD PET (newer variants)
Clinical workflow
Oncology FDG workhorse. Cardiac rubidium with Rb-82 generator. Neuro PET (amyloid, FDG dementia). The 25 cm axial FOV is meaningful — scans a torso in fewer bed positions than competitors, improving throughput at constant image quality.
Parts architecture
Unlike the Discovery 690 where CT-side parts overlap with the standalone LightSpeed VCT, the Biograph mCT uses Siemens Straton tubes + SOMATOM-lineage CT components. Parts ecosystem is Siemens-specific.