COUNTY - A new CT scanner will mean improved services at South Shore Regional Hospital (SSRH).

 Radiologist Dr. Chris Church said the announcement was welcomed news for the diagnostic imaging department. The current CT scanner is nearly 11 years old and Dr. Church said breakdowns are becoming more frequent.

 A new scanner will mean the service will be more reliable and patients will also benefit from improvements in technology over the past 11 years, said Dr. Church.

 The images produced by the new scanner will be higher quality and available faster than the current piece of equipment.

 "All the scans we do … this machine does it better and faster," said Dr. Church.

 He said car accident victims that require a head, neck and body scan can currently take up to 20 minutes. The new scanner, which is expected to be on site in a couple of months, can provide the same images in seconds.

 "It's faster and it can cut time off important cases like that," said Dr. Church.

 He said South Shore cancer patients will also be the beneficiaries of the faster service as many patients have regular CT scans to monitor the progression of cancer.

 Dr. Church said the department also regularly uses a CT scan on stroke patients for early diagnosis and treatment. CT scan is also used to do angiograms of the blood vessels in various parts of the body and to study the spine and joints.

 The equipment will also permit the department to expand the types of studies not currently offered in the district.

 He said the new system can picture heart arteries and replaces many barium enemas with CT enemas. Both studies will result in more detailed pictures.

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 "It may give us a higher quality study and more details and information," said Dr. Church.

 The Department of Health is paying for the $1.1 million piece of equipment for SSRH. The funding for the machine is part of $14 million allocated in the Department of Health's 2009-10 budget for emergency medical equipment.

posted on 01/26/10