Pictures (l to r) Barbara Smith, RT and Lisa DeLaGarza, RT
Connally Memorial Obtains New CT Scanner
Connally Memorial Medical Center has just installed a new 16 slice CT scanner. The use of this new scanner will significantly improve the quality of medical imaging provided by the hospital.
On Monday, April 2, 2012, CMMC welcomed their first patient into the newly installed and technologically upgraded CT exam room. “While we have always been able to provide excellent imaging support with our previous CT scanner,” Abel Salazar, Manager of CMMC’s Imaging Department says, “the acquisition of our new Siemens Emotion 16 slice CT scanner enhances our capabilities. We are now able to perform CT angiography, improved image quality on CT studies done for pulmonary embolism, and much faster scanning times. We look forward to decreasing wait times for patients, increasing our workload volume capability, and expediting reports to requesting physicians.”
The upgraded scanner, which acquires 16 CT slices simultaneously, is far more advanced than the 6 slice CT it replaced and will guarantee more accurate and rapid results. This makes the examination much quicker and accurate because patients don’t have to hold their breath as long when the scan is being taken. The artifacts caused by motion are thus decreased. This is a big advantage as quicker results are essential not only for peace-of-mind for the patient, but also for the physician to begin planning treatment immediately, if necessary.
CT scanning, meaning computerized tomography, is a powerful X-ray tool that allows physicians and more specifically, radiologists to look at parts of the body in cross section and in multiple planes. A multi-slice scan, like the new machine, makes multiple CT cuts simultaneously. A CT scan has become one of the most important tools in diagnosing problems such as head and spine injuries, cancers, cardiovascular disease, infectious disease, trauma and musculoskeletal disorders as well as other diseases and illnesses.
