OSF Saint James - John W. Albrecht Medical Center

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OSF Saint James Adds Advanced Computed Tomography (CT) System to its Diagnostic Services
The new LightSpeed VCT system from GE Healthcare provides faster, higher-resolution images.

OSF Saint James – John W. Albrecht Medical Center acquired a LightSpeed VCT computed tomography (CT) imaging system in early November 2006. The LightSpeed VCT provides highly detailed images of the human body. Use of the VCT system with patients began November 7 and became fully operational the following week.

The LightSpeed VCT CT scanner, manufactured by GE Healthcare, provides doctors with high resolution images in a fraction of the time previously required, allowing them to more accurately diagnose a wider variety of patient conditions.

“Our LightSpeed VCT system gives us the ability to apply CT imaging to a wider set of clinical applications,” said Tim Johnson, Director of Diagnostic Services at OSF Saint James. “In some cases, it may reduce the radiation dose a person receives and it certainly shortens the number of seconds patients will have to hold their breath during scanning.”

“The addition of the LightSpeed VCT system compliments and extends the range of quality diagnostic services that OSF Saint James offers the residents of greater Livingston County,” continued Johnson. “It provides us with vastly improved image quality and imaging speed, and it allows us to perform CT angiography and cardiology … besides enhancing the overall diagnostic confidence we have in all our studies.”

The LightSpeed VCT CT system is the fifth evolution of GE Healthcare’s award-winning LightSpeed® CT platform, the CT scanning system that revolutionized the industry in 1998. Originally developed in the 1970s, CT or “CAT” scans combine the power of X-ray technology and computers, allowing physicians the ability to view thin cross-sections of the internal anatomy without the need for exploratory surgery.

CT exams are used when people are ill or injured, or when a physician suspects a medical problem that is not easily detectable from a conventional physical examination. The LightSpeed VCT CT system non-invasively assists physicians in the diagnosis of a variety of anatomical areas, such as the spine, head, abdomen, and chest, and also includes detailed imaging of the heart.

For more information about CT services at OSF Saint James, call 815-842-4932.

LightSpeed VCT Facts

The LightSpeed VCT (Volume Computed Tomography) scanner from GE Healthcare allows clinicians to complete extremely fast exams while tailoring image quality, anatomic coverage and scan speeds to meet patient and application demands.

The LightSpeed VCT system can deliver up to 73 percent more coverage per second of a given region of interest over previous CT technology. This system’s speed dramatically reduces artifacts due to patient motion (either voluntary or involuntary, e.g., heart beats). This capability opens new diagnostic possibilities for the clinician. For example, a complete coronary angiogram can be acquired within five heartbeats, and physicians can quickly rule out (or in) the three life-threatening (aortic dissection, pulmonary embolism, coronary artery disease) causes of ER chest pain in one non-invasive scan. The system’s speed also makes stroke workups more routine. LightSpeed VCT’s features also allow physicians to perform other studies more efficiently, including those for neurology, oncology, trauma and angiography. Along with new procedures, doctors have the flexibility to customize protocols for each unique patient, thereby enhancing productivity and image quality.

GE LightSpeed VCT was introduced in 2004 after intensive research into tube and detector technology. The innovations that grew from this research have revolutionized CT technology, and with it, the diagnostic possibilities it represents.

LightSpeed VCT is the latest in the GE family of LightSpeed scanners. It demonstrates CT imaging quality in three dimensions; microVoxel™ imaging delivers routinely superior image quality in the axial, coronal and sagittal planes. This new frontier in imaging allows for superb sub-millimeter isotropic resolution that facilitates the imaging of small structures including small tortuous vessels, fine bony structures and coronary arteries.

LightSpeed VCT Procedures

Cardiac and coronary vessel analysis

Angiography studies

Trauma/emergency room assessments

Stroke assessment

Oncology care

Pulmonary emboli

Inner ear ailments

Spinal injuries

Abdominal injuries

Pediatric assessments

Kidney exams

Liver exams

Lung exams

Patient Benefits

Reduced radiation doses in some cases

Faster, more accurate scanning means faster patient exams

Breathing lights help patients remain motionless during scans

Less time needed for breath-holds, less patient stress

Greater flexibility (e.g., can obtain thicker or thinner “slices” without rescanning)

Full CT angiography coverage

Better cross sectional displays and 3D images

Captures heart images in a single breath-hold

About GE Healthcare

GE Healthcare is a global leader in medial imaging, interventional procedures, healthcare services and information technology. Its offerings include networking and productivity tools, clinical information systems, patient monitoring systems, surgery and vascular imaging, conventional and digital X-ray, computed tomography, electron beam tomography, magnetic resonance, ultrasound and bone mineral densitometry, positron emission tomography, nuclear medicine, and a comprehensive portfolio of clinical and business services. For more than 100 years, healthcare providers worldwide have relied on GE Healthcare for high-quality medical technology and productivity solutions.