Ten years ago, we received the first Phillips 16-slice CT scanner in a five state area and we are the last ones to replace it with a 64-slice CT scanner. What does this mean for the patient -- instead of being able to take 16 slices or images in one rotation it can now take 64 slices or images in one rotation. This decreases the amount of time for the scan and it increases the number of images that we can get - giving more detail. In several rotations, one CT exam can produce thousands of images to study. The new scanner includes a MITA Smart Dose Standards allowing CT scanners to report required customized radiation dose information with the images. Customized dose is based on age Automatic Exposure Controls (AEC) automatically controls dose within a certain parameter, and Dose Check, which will warn the operator when the dose is going to exceed established thresholds. In addition, our old scanner was 10 years old. It was a good scanner for us but we are reaching a point where mechanically the parts would start wearing and we would start seeing a lot more downtime due to that.

Radiology Manager

Jodi Burns, BSRT(R)(M),CNMT