The difference in atmosphere may have been due to adequate supply of the medical isotope in Europe from a local reactor, the BR2 high-flux reactor in Brussels, Belgium. Even with the Petten reactor in the Netherlands providing the majority of current U.S. supply, the North American nuclear medicine industry is still edgy over the closure of the Canadian Chalk River facility, which previously fit the bill till it was shut down due to a water leak in May 2009.

"Europe doesn't rely upon Chalk River," said Bogutski. "The majority of European supply comes from the Brussels reactor and it is running at normal capacity."

Two other major influences are at work in the European market: improving economic conditions and the structure of socialized health care, which may be conducive to more consistency in European sales, said Bogutski.

"Right now the U.S. tilt is toward extending the life of the equipment and relying upon the used sector of the market rather than buying new," he said.

The marketing strategies of major manufacturers of nuclear medicine equipment appear to be taking these realities into account. Bogutski said major manufacturers are being more conservative in their U.S. trade show presence, to the point where some are choosing not to exhibit equipment at trade shows where they previously had a strong presence.

GE Healthcare Launches New SPECT/CT System

GE launched their new SPECT/CT system, the Discovery NM/CT 670, at this year's EANM meeting. Bogutski estimated that the U.S. market for nuclear medicine equipment is approaching ten times the size of the Western European market, and that GE Healthcare's launch of the Discovery NM/CT 670 is a positive sign of rebounding in that market. GE is awaiting FDA approval before it can introduce the product in the U.S.

The Discovery NM/CT 670 is a continuation of the Discovery series of hybrid SPECT/CT systems. This model combines the BrightSpeed 16 slice CT and advanced gamma-detector technology in a modular gantry. The NM/CT 670 can provide both hybrid and separate CT and SPECT imaging studies and the system is associated with dramatically shortened image acquisition times. For example, for bone studies, the reduction in scan times can be as much as 30 minutes, which can aid in the prevention of motion artifacts.

Next Up

If passed by the House, HR 3276 will go before the Senate. Stay tuned for more news from SNM and coverage of this important legislation.

The next EANM 2010 Annual Congress is scheduled for October 9-13 in Vienna, Austria.

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