The Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) has acquired the latest state-of-the-art and most powerful C.T. scan machine, the “SOMATOM Force” Dual Source C.T. scanner that can acquire “more than 1000 slices in just one second”, said Prof. MS Sandhu, Head, Department of Radio diagnosis and Imaging at the institute.
There are very few such C.T. scan machines installed in India, he stated.
Dr Sandhu said that the “Flash” mode facilitated by the fast scanning capability allows a cardiac CT to be done in a fraction of a second i.e. “Within a Single Heart Beat” and without the need of any “Beta Blockers” to the patient to reduce their heart rate. This advanced technology is not available in other routine C.T. scan machines, and it will be a huge benefit for many cardiac patients.
In neonates, a high-pitch protocol drastically improves coronary artery and pulmonary vein delineation compared to any other C.T. Scanner, allowing complete evaluation of cardiovascular anatomy without the need for either patient sedation or heart rate control, which will greatly benefit the patients at PGIMER, he said.
This will be extremely beneficial to patients who are critically ill, trauma cases, or small children who have difficulty in holding their breath, he added.
Dr Sandhu further said that another very advanced feature which is not available in other C.T. scans is the latest generation X-ray tube with a unique “Tin Filter” and Detector technology of this CT scanner which drastically reduces the quantum of X -Ray radiation to the patient and also reduces the amount of contrast media required to be injected in patients.
With these advantages, the C.T. examination will now be more “kidney friendly” as a very low volume of contrast would be required to be injected in the patients, he said.