Philips O-MAR software utilised by Sussex Cancer Centre

Philips' O-MAR (Metal Artefact Reduction through Orthopaedic Implants) software system has been utilised in the UK for the first time by the Sussex Cancer Centre.

The company's easy-to-use system for suppression of orthopaedic metal artefacts in CT imaging has been rolled out by the cancer unit to conduct more accurate scanning procedures, which in turn supports more precise treatment planning.

O-MAR is an efficient algorithm that offers a method of suppressing metal artefacts by isolating and compensating for their effects on the visual data, before automatically producing both unaltered and O-MAR-enhanced images for review.

This will make it easier for anatomic structures to be accurately contoured, while having no impact on non-metal images, stents or similar small metal objects.

Marilyn Seabrook, senior pre-treatment lead radiographer at the Sussex facility, said: "Before O-MAR, the artefacts caused by the implants gave false tissue densities that had to be managed; now the tissue density is far more representative of the anatomy imaged."

This comes in the same month that Philips highlighted the positive experience enjoyed by Ipswich NHS Trust since it invested in breast screening equipment created by the company.