Barnsley swops four slices for 64

With the new scanner are (from left) consultant radiologist Dr Ram Vijay, superintendent radiographer CT/MRI Anita Speight, deputy superintendent radiographer CT Edna White,  Toshiba NE account manager David Bibbs, senior radiographers Joanne Driver and John Beckwolden and radiology services manager Dave Houghton.

Barnsley Hospital has replaced its ageing 4-slice CT system with a Toshiba Aquilion 64-slice scanner, providing faster imaging and increased capability.  

The Aquilion facilitates CT imaging with fast, thin slice and wide-range scanning capability and offers a reduction in x-ray exposure.

The system installed at Barnsley came with virtual colonoscopy and perfusion image packages.  CT Colon is a fast 3D and 2D tool for locating and analysing polyps; employing the Vitrea workstation’s easy-to-use workflow, it presents interactive 3D and 2D images of prone and supine simultaneously and locates polyps quickly through the entire length of the colon.

The CT Brain Perfusion option assists in analysing blood flow of stroke victims, where speed of diagnosis and treatment is often the primary factor in determining the extent of recovery.  The user can view and quantify regions of the brain at risk, access the built-in reporting capabilities and view multiple colour image maps with quantitative results.

Said superintendent radiographer Anita Speight: “Within eight weeks from installation, the key trainers have cascaded their knowledge and we already have eleven fully trained CT radiographers.”

See the full report on page 9 of the December 2009 issue of RAD Magazine.