Lake Hospital System Acquires 64-slice CT Scanner

New 64-slice CT Scanner at LakeWest Hospital Revolutionizes Diagnosis of Heart Disease.

Lake Hospital System recently acquired a 64-slice CT scanner, enabling the most advanced CT imaging of the heart and other organs and making the diagnosis of certain diseases faster, easier and potentially more accurate.

While current generation CT scanners are fine for most applications, the newly installed Aquilion 64, manufactured by Toshiba, produces precise diagnostic images within five to ten seconds, making it possible to "freeze" motion and better define certain disease processes. For patients experiencing symptoms associated with heart disease, this new scanner can almost instantly visualize the entire heart, revealing blockages in blood vessels and other heart problems that are sometimes not easily detectable with other tests.

"This technology could dramatically alter the way we currently treat patients with suspected coronary disease and chest pain," said Ahmad Banna, a Lake Hospital System cardiologist. "By providing a non-invasive study that can quickly distinguish blocked from normal coronary arteries, we can determine who is and is not at high risk of having a heart attack. This can reduce the time a patient must spend in the emergency department, or eliminate the need for hospitalization, if the exam is normal."

The clarity of images from this scanner will also help physicians identify narrowed brain arteries that put patients at risk of having a stroke, and evaluate blood flow in other organs such as the liver and kidneys. This technology has proven to be lifesaving for trauma patients by providing more precise images of bones, organs and internal bleeding when compared to older CT systems.

To generate CT "computed tomography" images, computer-driven machinery passes X-rays through the body, producing digitized signals that are detected and reconstructed. Each X-ray measurement lasts just a fraction of a second and represents a "slice" of an organ or tissue. A computer then uses these slices to reconstruct highly detailed, 3-D images of the heart, other organs, and blood vessels throughout the body. In some cases, a patient is injected with a contrast solution to increase the visual detail.

"From a clinical perspective, the true benefit of this new scanner is faster production of images, improved fine detail resolution, and improved post-processing to generate 3-dimensional images for treatment planning," said Frank Greicius, a Lake Hospital System radiologist. "For the patient, this means shorter breath hold times and a faster more accurate diagnosis. This all adds up to the highest quality care for our patients."