For the past decade, patients at Schuylkill Health, Pottsville, had to get in line to use a mobile PET imaging scanner which came in twice a month.
Recently, the nonprofit community medical campus upgraded equipment at the radiology department at its East Norwegian Street hospital and now has one in house, M. Michael Peckman, hospital spokesman, said Friday.
"Early detection remains one of our best tools in fighting cancer. Both patients and physicians will benefit from this new technology enhancement," Dr. Gregory J. Elberfeld, Schuylkill Health's medical director of radiology services, said Friday.
The new PET/CT scanner - a Siemens-brand Biograph mCT - is located on the first floor of the East Norwegian Street hospital, in the radiology department's CT Suite next to the emergency department. It replaced the CAT - Computerized Axial Tomography - scanner the hospital had been using, Peckman said.
For the past decade, PET services were offered every other week through a mobile unit. It treated an average of 36 patients a month, Sherry McDonald, Schuylkill Health's administrative director of the radiology services.
Now, patients can sign up to have scans within 24 hours, she said. And she predicts twice as many patients will come in for such scans.
It's a $2 million unit, and the hospital has signed a five-year agreement to lease it from Siemens Healthcare, Malvern, Chester County, McDonald said.
The hospital started treating patients with the device on Dec. 13, McDonald said.
Siemens is one of the world's largest suppliers to the health care industry, according to its website at siemens.com/healthcare.
PET/CT stands for "Positron Emission Tomography/Computed Tomography," according to Peckman.
"Combined PET/CT scans can be performed on any part of the body. They are frequently used to gather information about the heart, brain and lungs," according to the website for The Keck Medical Center of USC.
The Siemens website offers a description of the "Biograph mCT."
"Now you can detect, characterize and monitor the tiniest cancer lesions with reproducible quantification, making cancer treatment more cost-effective. Now you can quantify absolute myocardial blood flow, making more accurate treatment decisions, minimizing risk to your patients. Now you can potentially quantify amyloid deposits in the brain, making dementia diagnosis possible, slowing disease progression," according to the site.
Elberfeld and McDonald said the benefits of the new system include its look.
The CAT scanner the hospital had been using was a chamber which wasn't friendly to people who were somewhat claustrophobic, McDonald said.
The new PET/CT scanner shaped like a giant doughnut, McDonald said.
"This new imaging system has numerous benefits including its open size to accommodate larger patients, which also may help all patients feel less claustrophobic. The new PET/CT has a shorter scan time and can make the whole experience much more comfortable for our patients," Elberfeld said.
The new PET/CT scanner can also help technicians decide how much radiation a patient should receive before a scan.
"There are special dose-saving measures to keep the amount of radiation that a patient receives at the lowest possible levels while still getting the image that the physician needs," Elberfeld said.
Schuylkill Health is a "general, acute care, not-for-profit, community medical campus." It was formed in 2008 as the result of an affiliation between two community hospitals formerly known as Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center and The Pottsville Hospital and Warne Clinic, according to Schuylkill Health's website.
Schuylkill Medical Center-East Norwegian Street is a 136-bed facility. Schuylkill Medical Center-South Jackson Street is a 180-bed facility.