Ibage A-16-Mason County Journal- Thursday, ~t, 30, 2014
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doctors as they diagnose illnesses. CT
scanners use X-rays to take images in
virtual slices, producing a three-dimen-
sional image.
"Emergency rooms across the coun-
try and even doctor§ offices have relied
on ... CT to diagnose patients," Roscoe
said. "Everyone gets a CT scan before
going to the operating room."
The Toshiba Prime 80 CT scanner
was operational starting May 27, said
hospital Imaging Director Mike Gray.
The hospital purchased the machine
for $800,000 with capital funds and
money from the Mason General Hospi-
tal Foundation, Gray said.
According to Mason General Hospi-
tal and Family of Clinics, the Hospital
Foundation contributed $186,266 to
the cost of the CT scanner from events
such as Fantasy Forest.
"It's not the Cadillac of the models
but it's right up there with the current
slice offering," Gray said. "Where it dif-
ferentiates is the nuances."
Those slices are the number of sec-
tions of a patient scanned in a given
area. The new scanner creates 80 ½
millimeter slices over a 40-millimeter
section of a patient's body.
In comparison, the hospital's old
scanner took 16 slices.
"The patient gets more accurate
scans," Gray said. "We can see more.
We can look at details much better.
Sixteen is pretty much the entry-level
CT scanner."
Because the images taken by the
machine are so detailed, staff can re-
duce the amount of radiation used to
take an image by as much as 90 per-
cent.
"We're getting high resolution with
Journal photo by Tom Hyde
Mason General Hospital installed its new CT scanner in May. The scanner
is faster and more accurate than its predecessor and allows the hospital
to use less radiation. It also accommodates larger patients, with a wider
opening and a table strong enough to hold 660 pounds.
half the dose," Gray said. tide of utilization," Roscoe said.
In some cases, the dose of radiation The new scanner also has a higher
can be reduced even further, patient-weight limit and a larger open-
For example, because the human ing.
chest is primarily filled with air, Ros- The new scanner can accommo-
coe said doctors can use 10 percent of date patients weighing up to 660
the dose of radiation they would use pounds but has been weight-tested
with the former CT scanner, at closer to 1,200 pounds, staff said.
..... For abdominal scans, they can use The scanner also has a larger 78-inch
30 percent to 50 percent less radiation opening, compared to a 70-inch open-
than' before, he said. ing before.
CT scans are so common, Roscoe If a patient's stomach touches the
said, that they have surpassed radon opening, it can distort the image, Ros-
gas as the No. I way people are exposed coe said. The new machine accommo-
to radiation, dates both heavier and physically larg-
"We haven't been able to stem the er patients.
"This is where the scanner shines,"
Gray said.
The old scanner had a weight limit of
440 pounds but could rarely handle pa-
tients weighing more than 350 pounds.
"We broke that all the time," Roscoe
said. "Reliability is a huge deal with
the CT scanner. We did have to turn
people away."
The new machine also scans pa-
tients and reconstructs the images
faster, Roscoe said.
"Before they get the patient off the
table, I'm able to look at the picture,"
he said.
The faster scans also lead to fewer
errors.
"If the subject moves during the ex-
posure ... that's significant. You can
eliminate a nodule that could be lung
cancer from moving," Roscoe said.
"Even if the patient is being perfectly
still, the heart's beating."
However, a patient's minor move-
ments are now less of an issue, he
said.
"We are thrilled to be able to put our
patients first by being able to offer our
patients a faster scan time with bet-
ter resolution and less radiation," said
Scott Hilburn, Mason County Hospital
District 1 commissioner.
The hospital's 18-month-old open
MRI has also been a marked improve-
ment and is often used up to seven
times a day, staff said.
The word is getting out about Mason
General's high-tech imaging depart-
ment.
In the months after the new scanner
was installed, other hospitals began
sending patients to Shelton for their
CT scans and MRIs, staff said.
"It's a nice switch," Gray said. "We
like that."
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