High-tech CT scanner gives doctors a look at tiny hearts

The Golisano Children’s Hospital adds a new high-tech CT scanner that helps with life-saving diagnoses.

This piece of equipment has doctors with Golisano Children’s Hospital excited. It is called ‘the force,’ and it is the latest and greatest CT scanner.

Dr. Heidi Lewis, a Medical Director of Pediatric Radiology at Golisano Children’s Hospital said, “The scanner spins super fast, and can actually do a complete rotation of the tube in like point two seconds. And then it also has something called turbo flash mode, where the table of the scanner goes through the gantry very quickly. So it can scan bigger areas very quickly. It also has dual-source technology, which allows scanning at different energy levels.”

Lewis said speed is everything, especially in children and babies who can’t hold still or when looking at hearts, that don’t hold still.

It can actually pretty much freeze the heart in motion, whereas other scanners, you may get some artifact from heartbeats or artifact from respiratory motion,” Lewis said.

Dr. Eric Eason, a Pediatric Cardiologist at Golisano Children’s Hospital uses the high-speed CT scanner in preemies and newborns to assess heart defects.

“In babies’ hearts are sizes of walnuts, that first diagnosis is the most important one. So that’s where ‘the force’ scanner stepped in,” Eason said.

There are many benefits to speed. A quick scan time also means less exposure to radiation.

“There are conditions that require multiple CT scans. And that cumulative effect of radiation is very important to avoid cancer risks as kids and adults age,” Eason said.

Having the scanner in Southwest Florida means patients don’t have to travel. In the past, important heart scans were done in Tampa and Miami.

“It’s just a 15-minute roll downstairs to get that rapid diagnosis to help make decisions,” Eason said.

It adds up to more comprehensive care and protecting the tiniest of hearts.

The machine is also used to monitor cancer in kids, which requires repeated scans, so cutting down on radiation is a huge benefit.