Nov. 2, 2005 Regions Hospital installs new 64-Slice CT scanner Most advanced CT scanner improves imaging of the heart and other organs St. Paul, Minn., - Doctors at Regions Hospital in St. Paul have started using a new high-tech tool that can make highly detailed images of the inside of the body, improving the accuracy and speed in the diagnosis of certain diseases. The hospital's new 64-slice CT scanner replaces the previous 16-slice scanner. The numbers 64 and 16 refer to the number of detectors in each scanner. More detectors means faster scans and higher image quality. The 64-slice scanner creates multiple X-ray images of the body, and uses a sophisticated computer to construct cross-sectional, highly detailed 3-D images of the heart, other organs, and blood vessels. Each image represents a "slice" of the human body, and can create slices as thin as 0.625 millimeters. In fact, the imaging is so detailed that it can be used by radiologists and cardiologists to identify certain patients who have heart blockages - instead of going right to catheterization for an invasive test. Older CT scanners do not have this capability. Another benefit: the 64-slice scanner reduces the amount of scan time needed to acquire quality images. With the new scanner, high-quality images of the chest can be acquired in three to five seconds, which allows a patient to hold their breath for half of the amount of time it would have taken on older scanners. Regions is the only hospital in the east metro and Western Wisconsin to use a 64-slice scanner, according to Bryan Mueller, director of radiology at Regions. The scanner is the Lightspeed VCT 64, made by GE Healthcare in Waukesha, Wis. Regions Hospital is a Level I Trauma Center and teaching hospital serving Minnesota and western Wisconsin for more than 130 years. Regions is a premier, full-service, private hospital providing outstanding medical and surgical care with special programs in heart, women's care, cancer, orthopedics, neurology, burn and emergency care. The hospital is part of the HealthPartners family of health care organizations. Additional information is available at www.regionshospital.com
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