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Taylor Regional Hospital Announces Acquisition of Cutting Edge Diagnostic Imaging System
Taylor Regional Hospital will make available the latest, most advanced whole-body imaging technology with positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT), significantly enhancing their diagnostic services offered. PET/CT is an invaluable clinical test for cancer, heart disease and neurological disorders.
“Unlike other types of diagnostic imaging systems, PET/CT allows us to look at minute chemical and physiological changes related to metabolism,” according to Jane Wheatley, CEO. “Whereas other imaging methods provide mainly structural information, PET/CT lets us see how the body is functioning. When the PET images and the CT images are fused together, the clinician’s accuracy improves vastly. Adding PET/CT technology will provide distinct clinical advantages to our current imaging services.”
PET/CT is a molecular imaging procedure that generates pictures of the precise location and extent of disease. By imaging the molecular, biological and functional basis for disease, PET/CT enables a physician to detect abnormal cell growth and activity. This information aids in the early detection and improved treatment of many diseases, allowing enhanced capabilities in pre-surgical staging, elimination of invasive procedures, enhanced therapy monitoring capabilities, and a reduction in the number of diagnostic tests performed. The fusing of PET and CT images into one image set allows clinicians to view the metabolism of cells in conjunction with the anatomical detail of computed tomography. The combination of the two modalities makes PET/CT a more powerful and accurate tool than a normal PET scanner. PET/CT’s ability to diagnosis cancer in extremely specific locations is unprecedented.
In oncology, PET/CT is the only modality that can accurately image many organs at one time to diagnose malignancy, even provide information about whether or not cancer has spread to other parts of the body. In addition to cancer studies, PET/CT examines patients for myocardial infractions and looks for reversible damage as opposed to permanent heart damage. PET/CT is also used in neurological studies, investigating brain metabolism in patients with dementia and epilepsy.
“Adding PET/CT technology helps us achieve the goals of our clinical and administrative team, through providing the highest level of care for our patients and their families,” stated Ms. Wheatley. “This service will positively impact many lives throughout our community.”
For the patient, PET/CT is a safe and painless procedure, which typically takes about one hour to complete. The system, provided on a mobile shared-user basis by Alliance Imaging, Inc., will preliminarily be available at the James Graham Brown Cancer Center at Taylor Regional Hospitaland may expand as patient volume increases.