Hospital’s new CT machine provides upgrades to scans

For those in need of a computed tomography (CT) scan at North Big Horn Hospital, the recently installed new Canon machine will offer significant upgrades to the patient and providers.

According to NBHH’s director of radiology Julaine Askvig, the new scanner’s technology provides clearer images at a faster speed.

“We are really happy with how fast the scanner is with reconstruction,” she said. “Our other machine was installed in 2012, so from then until now there have been a lot of technology advances that make the image quality better, too.”

The previous machine was removed in mid-April, and the hospital used the mobile CT machine in the meantime to stay on schedule with their services.

While some electrical upgrades were made to the room, along with new flooring and other preparations that needed to be done, the new machine was delivered and installed.

In the short time it has been in use, it has already proven beneficial in multiple instances.

“We don’t do a ton of kids, but we had two in the first week, and this machine has a screen located at the top that will play a cartoon for children to watch,” Askvig said. “It can hopefully distract them from what could be a scary experience and hopefully keep them calm and still.”

Another example was with a trauma case that occurred in the last couple of weeks.

“The speed that we were able to get certain images and reconstructions was really significant,” she said. “When it is a trauma, we want to be as quick as possible and get the scans to the radiologist as fast as we can.”

Advanced Intelligence is also included on the new machine. It provides an innovative approach to CT reconstruction that uses Deep Learning technology to match the spatial resolution and low-noise properties of advanced model-based reconstructions.

The technology has been upgraded to 160 slices (from the older model’s 32 slices) and has been integrated into existing hardware, so images are improved in a smart, cost-efficient way.

The new optics solution provides significantly improved imaging from photon generation to detection. An optimized beam spectrum combined with a more efficient detector results in a better balance between image quality and dose.

“Our old images were fine, but this creates much clearer and concise imaging,” Askvig added. “There is also a cardiac package available on this machine that we eventually hope to utilize after further training and research. All in all, we are very happy with it.”