Aug 27, 2002 3 min read

A new, multi-slice computed tomography (CT) scanner has been added to the Radiology Department’s state-of-the-art diagnostic equipment at Brownsville General Hospital (BGH). The new CT system promises to speed up the exam process and add to the range of diagnostic imaging procedures offered at the hospital, according to Val Babu, M.D., radiologist and medical director of the medical imaging department.

“The HiSpeed CT/e Dual system incorporates the newest multi-slice CT technology,” Babu said, “and it will significantly enhance the service we are able to provide to our community.”

“The HiSpeed CT/e Dual has a new highly interactive graphic operator interface with an extraordinary range of automated capabilities,” he added. “This means that our technologists can set up and conduct even the most complex CT exams with just a few simple clicks of the mouse. This eliminates many of the routine, repetitive and time-consuming tasks faced by our technologists and allows them to spend more time providing quality patient care.”

The HiSpeed CT/e Dual, manufactured by GE Medical Systems of Milwaukee, Wis., is also an extraordinary fast system.

One key element of this speed can be found in its helical scanning capability.

“Helical scanning allows us to acquire large amounts of diagnostic data very quickly and easily – all the while the patient makes a single pass through the CT gantry,” Babu said. “This speed provides two direct benefits. First, the patient experiences a shorter exam time. Second, physicians gain even better diagnostic information, since the speed of the image acquisition minimizes motion artifacts that can obscure minute details. Helical scanning also provides us with volume data. That means once the dataset has been acquired, we can manipulate it even further via various post-processing analysis programs. We can look at slices of anatomy as thin as 0.1 mm all the way through 10 mm.”

A second element of the system’s speed is due to its multi-tasking capabilities.

“Multi-tasking usually means an ability to do more than one thing at a time,” Babu said. “With the CT/e Dual system, you can go even further. Here is just one example. While scanning a patient, we can visually monitor their exam as it progresses, we can view images from the exam while the system is still acquiring the image data and we can automatically film those images. But that’s just the beginning. While all that is taking place, we can also call up images from another previous exam, view them, and manually film them. The HiSpeed CT/e Dual truly redefines the meaning of ‘simultaneous’ operations.

For more information about any diagnostic radiology services at BGH, call 724-785-1747.