BroMenn gets new CT scanner

Doctors said they are able to diagnose a wide variety of patient conditions more quickly and accurately because of new technology at BroMenn Regional Medical Center.

The LightSpeed VCT computed tomography imaging system provides detailed, three-dimensional images of the inside of the human body, said Mike Johnson, BroMenn’s director of radiology. BroMenn officials showed the new CT scanner to the media on Tuesday.

“This is exciting new technology,” said Roger Hunt, BroMenn chief executive officer.

The system delivers 73 percent more coverage per second of the region being visualized that the previous system. That means more detailed images, allowing doctors to more quickly diagnose abnormalities and trauma of the brain, spine, abdomen, lungs and other parts of the body, Johnson said.

In addition, the new scanner is the first to perform detailed images of the heart, he said.

Previously, patients with atypical symptoms and an intermediate risk of heart attack could be diagnosed with a stress test and a diagnostic cardiac catheterization, which has less than a 1 percent risk of heart attack, stroke and death, said Dr. James McCriskin, cardiologist with Illinois Heart & Lung Associates.

Now — in a “dramatic change in cardiology” — patients may be diagnosed using the new scanner, in a procedure called coronary CT angiography, McCriskin said. It is less invasive than cardiac catheterization and has a lower risk of complications.

“This is the biggest advance in a long time,” Dr. Les Ray, a radiologist with Bloomington Radiology, said of the new scanner. He said it’s useful in cancer diagnoses.

The new imaging system already is the “workhorse” of the BroMenn radiology CT scanners, Ray said.

“We do 40 to 50 patients a day and the vast majority use the new scanner,” Johnson said.

The new scanner cost $1.6 million, Hunt said.

McCriskin said many insurers aren’t covering the cost of the new scans but he expects that they will eventually.

Johnson said patients pay about $1,500 to $2,000 per use. But he said cardiac patients are paying nothing for a limited period because BroMenn is still testing the equipment on cardiac patients.

Images may be viewed by physicians using computers elsewhere in the hospital, at their office or home. With the new Centricity Picture Archiving and Communications System, scans are stored on magnetic discs and may be retrieved on command, helping doctors to see patients’ scans more quickly.

Johnson already has benefited. He was among BroMenn employees who volunteered to be scanned in June as protocols were being established for heart patients.

Johnson, 55, had a heart attack and angioplasty 15 years ago. He immediately stopped smoking, began a walking program and improved his eating. So he felt fine in June when he volunteered to undergo a scan.

The coronary CT angiography revealed blockages and Johnson had double-bypass heart surgery on June 26. Without the new scanner, Johnson said he wouldn’t have been diagnosed without experiencing symptoms and without a more invasive, costly and time-consuming cardiac catheterization.