ANN ARBOR, MI - In medicine today, every second counts, every detail matters, and a fast, clear picture of what's going on inside the body can save a life.

GE Healthcare

Now, a new CT scanner at the University of Michigan Health System is helping doctors make the most of every second and every detail – in a way that few other scanners in the world can do. And it's making such scans easier on patients, replacing invasive procedures and allowing more people to get a definitive diagnosis.

U-M is one of the first hospitals in the world, and the first in Michigan, to begin using the new Lightspeed VCT (volume computed tomography) scanner made by GE Healthcare. It's the only true 64-slice CT machine in the state.

In a matter of a few seconds, or five heartbeats, images produced by the scanner gives doctors the information they need to tell whether someone is having a heart attack or a stroke, or whether their chest pain is caused by a blood clot, or by a tear or blockage in a blood vessel.

From tiny blood vessels and cancers, to major traumatic injuries, to blood flow in a stroke-starved brain, the new scanner can capture every millimeter of tissue in the body in just a few seconds, and give doctors crystal-clear images just minutes later.

After only a few weeks of use, U-M Cardiovascular Center specialists say the machine has given them an unprecedented view of their patients' clogged coronary arteries and other problems, and helped determine which patients need immediate surgery. They're now using the scanner in a research study comparing CT scans with the standard imaging technique, called angiography or cardiac catheterization, which is an invasive procedure that creates pictures of the heart and blood vessels.

“This machine gives us speed, detail and consistency like never before, and gives our patients the best shot at a firm cardiac diagnosis and effective treatment plan without an invasive procedure,” says Ella Kazerooni, M.D., professor of radiology and director of thoracic (chest) radiology. “The cardiologists and cardiac surgeons are lining up patients for this scan as fast as they can, and say they're very impressed with the results.”

Meanwhile, other U-M doctors are using the Lightspeed VCT machine to image problems with the digestive and urinary systems, the brain and the blood vessels that feed it, and other areas of the body. In addition to sparing many patients an invasive exam, the Lightspeed VCT scanner allows doctors to capture images of patients who can't hold their breath long enough for a normal CT scan.

The U-M Lightspeed VCT machine is one of the first handful in the nation, and only the second in the Midwest — after the scanner installed at GE's “test hospital” in Milwaukee .

The U-M Emergency Department CT soon will be upgraded to 64-slice capability, and two more Lightspeed VCTs will arrive within a year. The four 64-slice CTs are the latest in a rapidly growing arsenal of advanced medical imaging machines in the U-M Department of Radiology.

U-M doctors have also recently begun using one of the world's most powerful magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machines, the Philips Achieva 3.0T, with another scheduled for arrival in July that will be dedicated entirely to research. The first MRI machine at C.S. Mott Children's Hospital has also arrived recently, and another is slated for the East Ann Arbor Ambulatory Surgery Center that will open next year. Both of those are Achieva 1.5T machines.

U-M was also the first medical center in the world to use a machine that combines CT with SPECT (single photon emission computed tomography) nuclear imaging to diagnose heart disease, cancer and other conditions. That machine, the Siemens Symbia, will be joined by two more this year. They complement another machine that combines CT with positron emission tomography, or PET.

“The pace of advancement in medical imaging in the last few years has been astounding, and has driven unprecedented demand for more images of all body systems,” says U-M Radiology chair and Hodges professor N. Reed Dunnick, M.D. “We're pleased to offer our patients and clinicians the latest technology, while we're also excited by the research possibilities these machines offer.”

In the four years before the U-M Board of Regents approved the $3.7 million CT purchase and upgrade project, the number of CT scans performed on U-M patients jumped 46 percent. Demand for all imaging has grown even more since that time.

While some hospitals have purchased powerful 32-slice and 64-slice CT scanners just for use on heart patients, the new U-M Lightspeed VCT machine is giving a wide variety of patients and their doctors a better understanding and a better basis for treatment planning.

“In abdominal and pelvis imaging, we believe that this scanner will improve our ability to examine the blood vessels leading to the kidneys, liver and other organs, as well as the urinary tract and bladder, and the bowels of patients with inflammatory bowel disease and other conditions,” says Joel Platt, M.D., chief of body CT and professor of radiology.

The new machine's scans will even help surgeons minimize the risk to people who are donating a kidney or part of a liver to a family member or friend, by creating the best possible map of the blood vessels that will be cut during surgery. Platt also notes that the Lightspeed VCT machine allows doctors to look at blood flow within the abdomen and pelvis for the first time.

The new machine has begun proving its worth in brain imaging, too, says Suresh Mukherji, M.D., director of neuroradiology and a professor of radiology and otolaryngology.

“We're able to see the smaller vessels much better and faster, as well as stenosis, or narrowing, in the carotid artery that leads from the neck into the brain,” he says. “Patients who would normally need to undergo an angiogram to diagnose the extent of stenosis can now have a scan instead.” Mukherji adds that the new VCT will enhance his team's ability to look at perfusion (blood flow) in cancerous tumors and may help develop novel ways of treating malignancies.

Patients need a referral from their doctors to be scanned on the Lightspeed VCT or other new imaging machines. Insurance reimbursement varies. Referring physicians may call 1- 800-962-3555.

Written by Kara Gavin

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