CT (Low Dose)

How Dual Source technology is revolutionizing CT scanning at SJMC

A dual source CT scanner has 2 X-ray sources with 2 detectors which can produce high quality diagnostic images of a patient beating heart and coronary vessels without having to artificially lower their heart rate, for example. The system also produces consistent image quality at low dose by eliminating breathing and motion artifacts when scanning children or when scanning trauma cases as well as capability for lung cancer screening.

Lung cancer is typically diagnosed in the advanced stages, when surgical cure is not an option. A study on more than 53,000 men and women in the US with a history of heavy smoking showed that annual LDCT screening is an irreplaceable component in fighting lung cancer. Participants screened with LDCT had a 20 percent lower risk of dying from lung cancer than patients in a control group that was given standard chest X-rays. This reduction in mortality is likely due to earlier tumor detection and treatment.

A low dose CT screening image taken using SJMC’s Somatom Drive CT scan. The dose given to patient was only 20-27 times of a Chest X-Ray dose. This dose is lower by at least 80% compared to a normal CT scan of the chest.