Improved CT capability will provide better resolution for hybrid imaging at St Helier’s nuclear medicine centre

A scanner equipped with a contrast injector and the latest technology from GE HealthCare has been delivered and installed at St Helier Nuclear Medicine Imaging Centre, part of Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust. This is a significant investment in healthcare in south-west London and is said to be the first NM/CT 870 CZT SPECT/CT scanner to be purchased in London.

Months of careful planning were carried out by GE HealthCare and construction company G&M to ensure the installation was successful.

Consultant radiologist and joint clinical lead Dr Visvalingam Gnanananthan said: “This is a great achievement for the department to get more than £2 million investment from the trust since 2018 for expansion and more recently for a new scanner. Better CT capability will provide better resolution for hybrid imaging. Patients are benefitted by quicker scanning time, especially for cardiac MPS [myocardial perfusion scans].”

Lead NM superintendent Arfan Rashid added: “This is next generation technology for gamma imaging; the exceptional image quality with advanced quantitative applications will allow improved small damage or abnormal changes to be detected, while dramatically cutting down on scanning time. We have seen a noticeable improvement in image resolution compared to NaI iodide detectors.”

Lead picture: In front are NM applications specialist Philippa Campbell, clerical staff member Janet Gray, radiographer Marie Cherry Antolin, radiographer super-intendent Miriam Gonzales, consultant radiologist and joint clinical lead Dr Visvalingam Gnanananthan and lead NM superintendent Arfan Rashid. Behind are senior radiographers Hakeem Harris-Douglas and Francis Dumlao.

Published on page 22 of the April 2024 issue of RAD Magazine.