LincolnHealth’s new computed tomography scanner provides higher resolution with much lower levels of radiation.

The new scanner means patients can get the same level of image locally that they formerly had to drive to much larger hospitals for. For emergency patients, the scanner can mean quicker diagnoses. For cancer patients it can mean receiving follow-up care without having to travel an hour or more away.

With 64 detectors instead of its predecessor’s 16, the new “64-slice” scanner can absorb much more information as it spins around the patient, reducing the amount of time it takes to perform a scan by fifty percent and lowering the amount of radiation the patient absorbs by up to 40 percent.

The three-dimensional images created offer much more detail than the previous machine.

Dr. Charles Mullen, MD, Medical Director of the LincolnHealth Radiology Department, said doctors can use those large images to strip away layers of tissue or organs and potentially spot a pulmonary embolism or cancerous tumor at the earliest possible stage.

Because the machine is much quicker than its predecessor, patients don’t need to remain in potentially uncomfortable positions for as long. Quicker scans also mean faster treatment for trauma victims and a smaller chance that movement by a patient during the scan will make the scan impossible to read.

Lana Brandt, LincolnHealth Diagnostic Imaging Director, said scans have become standard procedure in many areas of medicine. They are used to diagnose emergency patients who have suffered head injuries or who have abdominal pain. They are also central to the treatment of many forms of cancer.

Because scans have become much more common, however, lowering the radiation dose is especially important. While scans can and often do help doctors diagnose life-threatening conditions, too many scans can increase a person’s chance of developing cancer.

The increasing reliance on scans for all sorts of different diagnoses is the reason LincolnHealth has made improving safety its top priority in replacing older units, said Brandt.

Computed Tomography Technologist Pam Hepburn, said the new scanner also features technology called organ dose modulation that allows the CT technologist to reduce radiation to the most sensitive parts of the body, such as the eyes, thyroid, ovaries and testes.