Hospital Installs Dynamic Volume CT to Expedite Patient Diagnosis

October 13, 2008 – Piedmont Hospital in Atlanta, GA, is installing the Aquilion ONE from Toshiba America Medical Systems in an effort to streamline the series of diagnostic tests that patients with heart conditions or stroke undergo.

With the Aquilion ONE, a dynamic volume CT system, physicians can reportedly provide one comprehensive exam, reduce cost by eliminating multiple tests and access complete information to diagnose and treat patients faster.

“Traditionally, we may use three different types of imaging tests to diagnose a cardiac patient, which can take up to five days,” explained Szilard Voros, M.D., chief of the Piedmont Heart Institute’s center for wellness, prevention and women’s heart disease. “The Aquilion ONE provides a more comprehensive exam and diagnosis in a matter of minutes. In just one heartbeat, we are able to see data that is traditionally captured over 500 heartbeats using other imaging systems.”

Toshiba’s Aquilion ONE dynamic volume CT system builds one 3D image of an entire organ in a single gantry rotation by using 320, 0.5 mm, detector rows so physicians can see more inside the organ.

The Aquilion ONE can also produce a 4D clinical video showing up to 16 cm of anatomical coverage, enough to capture the entire brain or heart, and show its movement and its blood flow.

“In addition to streamlining the diagnosis process, the Aquilion ONE significantly reduces the amount of radiation the patient is exposed to by replacing several exams with this single comprehensive test,” added Dr. Voros. “With the Aquilion ONE, patients are exposed to less than 15 mSv of radiation versus an accumulated 40 mSv of radiation through the traditional multiple tests. If the only clinical question is the status of the arteries supplying the heart, the radiation dose can be as low as 3 to 5 mSv. As a reference, the annual background radiation we all experience in the United States is about 3 mSv. The Aquilion ONE allows us to provide one safe and accurate exam with significantly less radiation to the patient.”
For more information: www.piedmontheartinstitute.org and www.medical.toshiba.com