Two dozen of radiologists from Vancouver General Hospital helped pay for a $1.3-million CT scanner that can capture images within six seconds.
On Tuesday, VGH celebrated their 15th year anniversary of the formation of the department. As part of the celebration and innovation, the medical institute introduced their new, speedy scanner in a bid to improve their patient care. The new scanner is said to be so fast that the patients will no longer have to remain still during scanning.
Dr. Savvas Nicolaou, director of emergency trauma radiology at VGH said to The Vancouver Sun that their latest acquired technology is "kidney- friendly" as it has a "very low quantities of dye are necessary to capture images" and it is "heart- friendly" as patients don't need to take any medicines to relax their heart rate.
He said that the machine can scan the patient's whole body in just six seconds. It can also produce multiple images of the inner part of the human body. Dr Savvas added that the scanner is so powerful as it "generates 60 Gs of force," compared to the "three Gs of force felt by an astronaut."
He said the CT scanner is used to diagnose from head to toe trauma, which obtain from motor vehicle accidents, pain in the abdomen, pain in the chest, bone fractures, concussions and it has improved its quality of care.
The use of the machine is limited to the patients who were unable to stay still. Dr Nicolaou said the scanner is so fast that they don't have to instruct their patients to hold still as it "freezes all the motion," but still provides good quality images.
He said that two dozen of radiologist in the department helped pay for the expensive scanner. Adding, "They (radiologists) were willing to donate $250,000 of our own money toward this cause because we believe this machine is a life-saver and will definitely improve the care of all patients."
