St George’s Healthcare NHS Trust has ordered a Somatom Definition Flash CT from Siemens Healthcare. The system will be used as part of the hospital’s major trauma and stroke centre to provide fast, low dose images in an emergency setting.
The Definition Flash will support the service, enabling rapid whole-body scanning. The system carries out the fastest scanning speed in CT (430 mm/s) with a temporal resolution of 75ms and can image a person in less than five seconds. The need to sedate paediatric patients is also reduced as they do not have to remain still for as long.
The Definition Flash will also perform acute stroke, vascular imaging and all emergency cases including paediatrics as it is located close to the resuscitation area in accident and emergency. With the addition of perfusion imaging software, the hospital will benefit from a 3D evaluation package for assessing blood flow in stroke patients.
Furthermore, the Definition Flash can perform a scan of the entire heart in just 250 milliseconds, which is less than half a heart beat. It can also image hearts with a fast pulse or an irregular beat without using beta blockers.
Andrew Stewart, manager of Radiology at St George’s Hospital, said: “The Definition Flash will provide us with fast and accurate imaging of major trauma, stroke and emergency cases leading to much earlier and more accurately targeted treatment. Its speed, image quality and dedicated software applications will be vital for the comprehensive imaging of stroke patients ‘at the door’ to ensure rapid access to the most appropriate treatment.”
Malcolm Pickering, regional sales manager at Siemens Healthcare, said: “We are delighted to be supplying our most advanced CT offering to St George’s Hospital and feel it is well placed as a component of the trauma service. The Definition Flash surpasses current standards for speed and image quality while maintaining the lowest possible dose; this will be extremely beneficial to the range of acute cases presenting at the hospital.”