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Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Advertisement Email Story to a Friend November 25, 2005 Ashland Community Hospital radiology technician Bob Davis reviews images while Rob Hibner, director of radiology, demonstrates the new Philips volumetric 16-slice CT scanner. Mail Tribune / Roy Musitelli CT in 3-D Detailed images provide doctors with a closer look inside By BILL KETTLER Mail Tribune When it comes to medical imaging, thinner is better. "Thin slice" CT scanners, known for the detailed three-dimensional images they produce, have been available for several years, but they’re just now starting to appear in Southern Oregon hospitals. Ashland Community Hospital recently acquired the region’s first 16-slice scanner, and both Medford hospitals plan to add new scanners to their diagnostic tool kits in the near future. ACH’s new "volumetric" scanner allows physicians to look at internal body structures in three-dimensional views on a computer screen. Bones, blood vessels and organs can be seen from any angle and rotated through a full 360 degrees with no loss of detail. "For a surgeon, when you’ve got limited time, it’s a wonderful tool," said Rob Hibner, ACH directory of radiology. "An orthopedist, for example, can look at an accurate representation of a fractured heel before he opens the skin." The amount of detail in the images makes them particularly useful for analyzing blood vessels, says ACH radiologist Dr. John Barton. The machine also produces high quality images faster, which reduces patients’ time on the exam table, Barton said. Advertisement Making images faster means that patients don’t have to hold their breath as long. That can be a real issue for people who have breathing problems, Hibner said. CT (computed tomography) scanners have been around for more than 30 years. They use X-rays to produce body images in the form of thin cross sections of tissue, much like slices of bread. The patient lies inside a large "donut" that contains an X-ray tube and detectors that capture the images. Over time scientists learned to narrow the width of the X- ray beam and install more than one detector inside the donut, producing ever thinner slices of body parts. Physicians can still view the individual slices of internal organs, but faster computer hardware and more sophisticated software allow the images to be assembled into precise three-dimensional pictures as well. Just a few years ago, 16-slice scanners were at the cutting edge of imaging technology. Now there are 32- and 64-slice scanners, too, offering physicians ever-more-detailed pictures of organs and blood vessels. Hospitals have to weigh how much scanning power they want against cost. Hibner said he could not disclose the hospital’s actual cost for the new scanner, but the list price was $1 million, and he was able to negotiate a price "well under" $850,000. A 64-slice scanner could cost as much as $1.8 million to $2 million, Hibner said. Prices drop as newer equipment becomes available. "It’s just like buying a home computer," Hibner said. Patient costs for scans vary, depending on the complexity of the scan and insurance coverage. A simple scan of the head would probably range from $700 to $1,000, Hibner said, while body cavity images could cost up to $1,600. Hibner said ACH hopes eventually to use its new equipment for services such as "virtual" colonoscopy, eliminating the need to anesthetize a patient while a fiber optic tube is inserted in the colon. While the Ashland hospital’s scanner is the most sophisticated one in the region right now, it won’t be for long. Both Rogue Valley Medical Center and Providence Medford Medical Center are evaluating new equipment that will replace their existing scanners. Providence Medford Medical Center will purchase a new scanner in the first quarter of 2006, said Mike Baker, director of medical imaging. Rogue Valley Medical Center is evaluating scanners to determine which one will best serve the hospital’s needs, said Win Howard, imaging manager for Asante Health System, RVMC’s parent company. Howard said RVMC is looking at 64-slice scanners, which are particularly useful for cardiology because they produce images so quickly. Hibner said patients are the ultimate winners when hospitals acquire new scanners, because physicians get better pictures of what’s happening inside the body. "It’s an exciting time," he said. Reach reporter Bill Kettler at 776-4492, or e-mail CT in 3-D ">[email protected] . Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2006 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. 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