The many benefits of the new 64-slice CT scanner in diagnostic imaging

St. Luke’s Medical Center, always on the forefront of introducing the latest in medical technology, did it again this time with its acquisition of the world’s most advanced 64-slice CT scanner in clinical use.

Dubbed as one of the most exciting innovations in diagnostic imaging, it is the first operational 64-slice CT scanner in the Philippines.

"Being the first one to install the 64-slice CT scanner in the country, the hospital now serves more than 30 patients a day, with the majority coming from St. Luke’s while the rest are referrals from other hospitals," says Dr. Henry Lazo, section chief of the Institute of Radiology’s CT Scan section. Most cases are for cardiac, pulmonary and brain imaging.

"We made sure that all our radiologists and technologists received the proper training in handling the new equipment that apart from having the supplier send an application specialist, three of our staff will go for training abroad just so they can appreciate and learn this latest innovation in CT scanning," Lazo adds.

At present Computed Tomography scanning, better known as CT scan, is widely used in the diagnosis of the world’s top three killers – heart disease, cancer and stroke. It is also used in the screening of colon and lung cancers aside from its other usual uses.

In the Sept. 5, 2005 issue of Time Magazine, the 64-slice CT scanner was featured as one of the most exciting innovations in cardiac imaging.

The 64-slice CT, the magazine pointed out, "enables more accurate diagnoses of arterial blockages, aortic dissections and pulmonary embolisms, by using unprecedented resolution and speed."

The magazine feature added that this scanner "divided the heart into 64 imaginary slices. This higher number of (slices) increases the resolution of the final image and decreases the amount of time needed to make it."

The scanner makes use of "sophisticated computer programs sort the data to generate amazingly detailed, three-dimensional images."

If used under the right conditions, "CT images of the heart are so sharp that they can take a lot of guesswork out of diagnosing heart disease."

With technological advances, CT’s clinical applications may expand. Its use in heart disease has proven to be so beneficial that it may soon replace the heart angiogram.

What makes the 64-slice CT scanner different from the 16-slice CT scanner?

The 64-slice CT scanner has four times more detectors than the 16-slice CT scanner, combining unrivaled image quality with remarkable speed.

In a matter of seconds, detailed pictures of any organ are produced with sharp, clear axial images with almost instantaneous 3-D and coronal/sagittal reformatting.

Basically an x-ray machine, each detector of the 64-slice CT scanner picks up an x-ray beam as it spins around the body and then computes the densities of the tissues that the beam has passed through to produce a thin image of that narrow slice of the body.

The more detectors a scanner has, the closer the images can be packed together which improves resolution. At the same time, the collection of slices is processed at such a speed that there is the immediate production of a 3-D or reformatted images as needed.

Patients who will opt to have the 64-slice CT scan need not worry about the length of time spent in undergoing the procedure. It is only a matter of seconds depending on the body size.

After the injection of the contrast agent that highlights the organ to be scanned, a table slides the patient into the scanner as the x-ray tube circles the body for a few seconds.

The speed on which the data are gathered and the creation of a three-dimensional composite allows doctors to review the results with the patients still on the CT table.

"The preparation time is now longer than the actual scanning time," says Lazo.

As to the fear that since the 64-slice CT scanner, being an x-ray machine, has a high dose of radiation that might have harmful effects on the patient, Lazo says that there is controlled emission since the machine adjusts to body size, and with technological advances, there is hardly any scattered radiation to be afraid of.

For more information about the 64-slice CT scanner, call 723-0101 loc. 4702.

Lazo was a fellow at St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital Center in Manhattan, New York and a visiting radiologist for spiral CT at Indiana University Medical Center in Indianapolis, Indiana.