Slice of Life
Working in the ER of a level 1 trauma center I worked on a 64 slice CT machine. Other scanners in our other departments throughout the hospital didn't have such a luxury. Toshiba just released an 80 slice machine and it received FDA clearance. It also has the ability to be upgraded to a 160 slice machine if needed. With its high rotation speed data can be acquired very rapidly and scan times are shortened along with faster reconstruction of the images. This in turn will provide faster, safer, and more accurate diagnoses.
Our scanner in the ER had a maximum weight limit of 450 pounds and this new couch has a limit of 660 pounds. A larger gantry bore is necessary for hospitals who treat bariatric patients along with the ever growing size of the average patient. On occasion we had to turn patients away because they exceeded our table's limit. This is both frustrating for the doctor and the patient. The dose reduction technology the new machine offers removes noise from the image with reduced radiation dose. It will also make tests like cardiac exams more efficient and accurate.
This is a necessary addition to the imaging world and it is meeting the expanding clinical needs of the field.