New Ct Scanner Quickens Diagnosis, Cuts Suffering Time
A new machine at Valley Hospital means patients will receive quicker diagnoses after less painful tests.
The hospital replaced its old CT scanner, used for head, chest and abdomen X-rays, with a more advanced model this month.
The new scanner is much faster than the old one, cutting X-ray times down from 20 minutes to 20 seconds.
“That’s a crucial time difference for a patient who is in pain,” said Radiologist Andrew Cox. Because patients must remain absolutely still and hold their breath during the CT scan, Cox added, the procedure was oftentimes difficult.
“We’d have to sedate the small children to keep them still,” he said.
The hospital held an open house and ribbon-cutting ceremony in honor of the new scanner last Thursday. Members of the hospital’s board attended, along with local business leaders who helped raise funds for the $1.2 million purchase. The scanner is the newest and most advanced in any Spokane hospital, though Inland Imaging Inc. has a similar model.
“This technology opens a whole new world for doctors,” said Chip Garrett, the hospital’s CT technician. “It will change the way we diagnose and treat patients.”
The CT scanner is a large white machine that fills about half a room. Patients are passed through a hole in the center of the machine, where the X-ray machine revolves. X-rays are shot through the hole, travel through the patient’s body, and are absorbed by receptors acting as film.
The result is an image that looks like a two-dimensional “slice” of the patient’s head, chest or abdomen. In the past, technicians took one picture at a time and could spend hours assembling the slices into three dimensional pictures.
Now the work can be done in a fraction of the time. Both the X-ray machine and the receptors in the new scanner are constantly in motion, taking hundreds of pictures from many angles. With this extensive data, Garrett can transform inky blotches into colored models quickly.
With the new technology, arteries have defined edges, kidneys look like organs, and doctors can see great detail without exposing patients to more X-rays.
Just a few weeks ago, a patient with an aneurysm came to the emergency room. Surgeons feared the aneurysm was close to rupturing, and they were considering surgery. But rather than relying on a simple clinical diagnosis in the time-sensitive situation, they were able to use the CT scanner to get a quick, detailed look at the patient’s brain.
The fine caliber of the CT scanner means it’s fit for more than just its traditional uses. “It’s replacing studies done in other departments,” said Cox. For example, diagnoses for kidney stones and pulmonary embolisms have moved to the CT room.
This makes a big difference, Cox said.
“In 20 seconds you can have a definite yes or no, whereas before, after a long test, all you could get was a maybe.”