The Holly Private Hospital, Buckhurst Hill, Essex, recently acquired a Canon Aquilion Prime SP 160-slice cardiac CT scanner. The new equipment, which replaced an existing 16-slice system, equips the hospital with the very latest in cutting-edge technology, including Vitrea Extend ‘thin-client’ workstation with cardiac and ColonCAD post-processing.
The new system is a welcome addition to the advanced suite of imaging technology at The Holly Private Hospital and ensures that the award-winning private hospital has the most advanced cross-sectional platforms in the local area.
At the official opening of the scanner, David Henderson, Hospital Director said, “We welcome this huge investment in our imaging technology, which demonstrates our commitment to delivering exceptional healthcare to our patients. A particular big thank you goes to Michele Fox, Imaging Services Manager, who did a fantastic job in managing the new CT scanner project.”
Speaking about the investment, Michele Fox, Imaging Services Manager and Aspen Group Radiology Lead said, “The new Canon Medical Systems Aquilion Prime SP 160 CT scanner provides excellent image quality at the lowest possible radiation dose to the patient, using the latest scanning technology. It allows us to carry out exams covering all parts of the anatomy, but what’s really exciting is that we can now offer cardiac angiography CT scanning at The Holly. We are so excited to be able to offer our patients and referrers the most advanced imaging technology in CT scanning and look forward to welcoming even more patients to The Holly in the coming months.”
The Aquilion Prime SP, which was purchased to cover a wide range of diagnostic CT examinations, including cardiac studies, will also be used for radiotherapy planning. The standard 78cm bore of the gantry enables good access for the CT fluoro package as well as for radiotherapy planning.
During installation of the new equipment, The Holly Private Hospital used one of Toshiba’s (now Canon) mobile CT scanners, comprising an Aquilion PRIME 160-slice cardiac CT system. This allowed the hospital to provide a seamless CT service, while enabling works and CT installation took place. Another key benefit of this mobile solution was that the radiography staff could be trained on the new CT system ahead of the actual one being delivered and installed. The Holly Private Hospital took advantage of a full turnkey solution as provided by Canon Medical Systems, utilising Apollo Building Services Ltd.
The Aquilion Prime SP is capable of generating 160 slices per rotation using the coneXact™ reconstruction algorithm. High speed rotation allows rapid data acquisition, which, in conjunction with fast reconstruction times, further improves throughput, reducing the time required for diagnosis.
The new system has been delivered by an array of software including cardiac CT, Variable Helical Parameters, SURESubtraction neuro, lung and ortho packages, and CT fluoro. In addition, the radiotherapy capability includes RT indexed couch inlay and LAP Dorado Lasers.
Photo:
Shown here left to right, Dr. Lorraine Kelly, Director of Nursing & Clinical Services; Colin Pellow, Account Manager, Canon Medical Systems; Dr. Nicholas Reading, Consultant Radiologist; Michele Fox, Imaging Services Manager/Aspen Group Radiology Lead; David Henderson, Hospital Director; Mayur Zaveri, CT Lead/MRI Reporting Radiographer, and Simon Weeden, Branch Manager, Canon Medical Systems