Robinson Memorial Hospital recently installed the first 256-slice CT scanner in Portage and Summit counties. The SOMATOM Definition Flash CT scanner, by Siemens, is located at the hospital’s main campus in Ravenna. The scanner is a dual-source CT, featuring two X-ray tubes that simultaneously revolve around the patient’s body.
The 256-slice scanner can capture the body’s skeleton, organs and blood vessels in the minutest of detail. The SOMATOM sets the standard regarding speed and radiation dose reduction for CT scanners. It requires only a fraction of the radiation dose that is delivered by many other scanners. With this scanner, a completed scan of the entire chest region can be completed in just 0.6 seconds. Thus, patients are no longer required to hold their breath during exams, like they have in the past.
“Now that Robinson Memorial Hospital has this new technology, we will be able to diagnose coronary artery disease, as well as congenital heart conditions using Cardiac CT; a non-invasive procedure compared to an invasive catheterization angiography,” stated A. Roger Tsai, MD, Cardiologist at Robinson Memorial Hospital. “This new technology will certainly benefit our patient population.”
The more detectors or ‘slices’ in a scanner, the better the resolution of the image it produces. The strength in the 256-slice scanner means it can find early signs of restricted blood flow or other possible issues before symptoms appear or an organ becomes permanently damaged. Because of the 256 detectors, it is possible to perform whole-body scans on a person six feet, six inches tall in less than 4.7 seconds.
"This piece of equipment will allow us to provide more detailed exams than before and at a significantly reduced dose of radiation, thus benefitting our patients,” stated Edward Bury, MD, Medical Director and Chairman of the Department of Radiology at Robinson Memorial Hospital.
"We've been looking forward to acquiring this new CT technology for a long time,” said Judy Mink, Director of Radiology at Robinson Memorial Hospital. “It's so exciting to see it all come to fruition and to know that we made the right decision. The images are absolutely beautiful and the new capabilities this scanner offers will help our physicians make quicker and more accurate diagnoses for our patients."
The SOMATOM Definition Flash 256-slice CT scanner is now available for patients and is located at Robinson Memorial Hospital in Ravenna. Patients must be referred by their physician for a CT scan.