With a continued focus on quality care and improved patient experience, McLeodRegionalMedicalCenter recently became the first hospital in the state to install the Siemens Biograph mCT, aninnovative PET/CT scanner which offers accurate, fast and comfortable exams for a wide range of patients.

The new PET/CT scanner offers exceptional patient comfort with a large, 78-cm cylinder. Its open design and fast scan times may also help patients feel less claustrophobic.

“We are very pleased to bring this technology to McLeod to advance our PET/CT capabilities. This system will provide our physicians with a wide range of imaging options for many different types of patients,” says Dr. Steven Glassman, a McLeod Radiologist.

The unit’s innovative dose-reduction technologies minimize patient exposure to radiation. Additionally, the system’s fast scan times result in less patient motion, optimizing both image quality and the overall patient experience. Exams that previously lasted 40 minutes are now performed in less than 20 minutes.

The combined PET/CT technology also increases the physician’s ability to diagnose diseases that may have previously remained unidentified. Oncologists can characterize the tiniest cancer lesions more precisely, which permits better staging and monitoring of changes in activity over time. This allows for a more accurate assessment of treatment response. Cardiologists can also more accurately assess multi-vessel disease, and the system may also aid neurologists in the evaluation of neurological disorders and dementia.

“The Siemens Biograph mCT gives McLeod one of the most cutting-edge imaging systems available today,” says Dr. Glassman. “We now have a versatile PET/CT system that is fast, highly accurate, and allows us to deliver comfortable imaging experiences to our patients. With the many workflow-enhancing features on the system, we anticipate that it will enable us to increase the number of patients who can take advantage of these valuable imaging services. This technology sets another new standard in diagnostic imaging.”