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MUSC launches cutting-edge CT heart scanner
By Shelia Watson
Contributing Writer
Diagnosing heart trouble can be time-consuming and expensive, often involving inpatient treatment and invasive medical procedures. But new computing tomography, or CT, scanning technology at the Medical University of South Carolina promises relief for both patients and medical staff.
In purchasing the Siemens Dual Source CT scanner, MUSC has become one of only five hospitals in the country, and the only hospital in the South, using the latest technology for scanning the heart to detect trouble spots. MUSC is considered among the world’s top institutions for cardiac imaging as studies are interpreted by internationally renowned radiologists and cardiologists.
The new technology represents a $2.2 million investment by MUSC. Launched earlier this month, the DSCT already is drawing rave reviews from MUSC staff.
“It’s amazing, we scanned a patient we never would have been able to scan using previous generations of scanners,” said Dr. U. Joseph Schoepf, MUSC’s CT research and development director. “The patient’s heart was going at 180 beats per minute, and that’s a difficult situation to get a clear image of without beta blockers.”
The evolution of CT scanning is moving rapidly; almost too rapidly for the medical academic community to assess its benefits fully before the next generation makes its debut.
In the 1990s, the full-slice CT scanner came online, followed by the 16-slice in 2001 and, by the time Schoepf arrived in Charleston in 2004, the 64-slice was “truly cutting edge and still is today for most parts of the country,” he said.
Even with the previous-generation 64-slice still in operation, and still considered cutting edge, the DSCT, he said, is “the latest ‘souped-up’ generation of scanners.”
Using two X-ray sources and detector systems that rotate in sync, the DSCT is able to acquire image data in half the time of previous-generation technology. With a constant temporal resolution of 83 milliseconds, Schoepf said the scanner “is like a fast shutter speed on a camera. We can freeze the image of the heart in half the time it used to take.”
Even with a 64-slice scan, beta blockers typically are used to slow a patient’s heart rate so physicians can get the sharpest image possible. However, some patients, such as those with asthma or emphysema or with allergic reactions to beta blockers, are not candidates for the 64-slice scan, Schoepf said.
“What we have done so far (with 64-slice scanners) is try to restrict the patients to 65 beats per minute or less, so we gave beta blockers to slow the heart down,” he said. “Now (with the new scanner), it looks like we can scan all patients without beta blockers, so the scope of the population who are eligible for testing has probably doubled.”
In addition, because it’s a non-invasive procedure, the DSCT brings an added safety measure to detecting heart trouble.
“Traditionally, if there was a suspicious heart problem, you would eventually get to a heart catheterization procedure, which is fairly safe but still has risks,” he said. “About 1 percent of those who go through that have serious complications. But we can reduce even that 1 percent with this scanner.”
The technology is especially helpful in detecting cardiac illness in women, whom Schoepf said show misleading and subtle signs of heart disease.
“The dual-source CT would help us assess a patient for heart disease when an EKG or nuclear test has not revealed any problems,” Schoepf said.
The DSCT can be used for any part of the body, but Schoepf pointed out its capabilities make it best suited for detecting heart problems.
Dr. Philip Costello, chairman of MUSC’s Department of Radiology, said the schedule for patients seeking to use the new technology is booked several weeks ahead. He expects to scan at least 20 patients a day with the DSCT.
The DSCT will be moved into MUSC’s new tower on Courtney Street upon completion of that facility in spring 2007, and a new unit will be purchased for the main hospital, Schoepf said.
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