New Spectral CT Imaging Technology at Westchester Medical Center Captures Patient Scans Faster with Enhanced Clarity than Conventional CT Imaging for More Accurate Disease Diagnosis
Westchester Medical Center Patients among First in U.S. to Benefit from New Technology
Medical imaging is a crucial tool in disease identification and diagnosis. Now, medical imaging specialists at Westchester Medical Center can capture inpatient scans fast and with enhanced clarity with a new spectral computed tomography imaging system.
Westchester Medical Center’s new Philips Spectral Computed Tomography (CT) 7500 captures high quality scans with more information than conventional CT imaging. High quality images with spectral data acquired by the Spectral CT 7500 can help improve disease identification and possibly decrease the need for rescans, allowing physicians to move beyond where the suspicious finding is located, to characterizing what it is.
Westchester Medical Center, the flagship of the Westchester Medical Center Health Network (WMCHealth) is the first hospital on the United States East Coast and only the second hospital in the nation* to have the Spectral CT 7500, which was acquired through a multi-year technology and services partnership with Philips.
“Our patients are the true beneficiaries of this technology acquisition as the clarity and quality of the medical images generated by the Spectral CT 7500 help our physicians characterize disease quickly with enhanced confidence than with conventional CT scanning,’’ said Zvi Lefkovitz, MD, Director, Department of Radiology for Westchester Medical Center. “The physical design of the Spectral CT 7500 affords our clinical specialists more space to perform biopsies, ablations and other procedures, and the design makes for a more comfortable imaging environment for bariatric patients.”
Speed and Confident Diagnosis Chief Benefits
Lefkovitz said imaging technology has advanced significantly since he started his career more than 35 years ago. Then, “it took 45 minutes to get 10 images as opposed to today’s rate of just a few seconds.” According to Philips, with the Spectral CT 7500, technicians from Westchester Medical Center’s Advanced Imaging Center can capture head scans in less than one second, and a full, upper body chest and abdominal scan in less than two seconds. This increased speed of capture enables clear and detailed images of beating hearts and reduces the number of scans necessary to capture medical images of very young patients under the care of WMCHealth’s Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital, who can be a challenge to scan accurately due to their frequent movement.
Philips’ specifications for the Spectral CT 7500 state the system can use less than a fifth of the contrast solution required for a conventional CT scan, which is beneficial for patients with kidney disease who may have difficulty tolerating the larger volume of contrast solution necessary when using a conventional CT imaging system. The Spectral CT 7500 can also enhance images, lessening chances of a retest if the contrast solution dissipates before the scan is completed.
WMCHealth’s Advanced Imaging Center technicians currently use the Spectral CT 7500 for inpatient scans at Westchester Medical Center. Referring physicians with questions about the inpatient and outpatient services offered through WMCHealth’s Advanced Imaging Center, or patients seeking to schedule an appointment should call 914.493.2500. Physicians and patients can also send an email to AISSchedulers@WMCHealth.org. Appointments also can be scheduled online at WestchesterMedicalCenter.org/Make-an-Appointment.
About Westchester Medical Center, the flagship of the Westchester Medical Center Health Network
Westchester Medical Center is the premier provider of advanced medical care in New York’s Hudson Valley region. The flagship of the Westchester Medical Center Health Network, this 415-bed academic hospital located in Valhalla, New York, provides local residents with acute care services - Level I trauma and burn care, organ transplants, Comprehensive Stroke Care and more - found nowhere else in the region. Westchester Medical Center is the primary referral facility for other hospitals in the Hudson Valley and serves as a lifeline for more than 3.5 million people. To learn more about Westchester Medical Center and the vital services it provides to residents of the Hudson Valley and beyond, visit WestchesterMedicalCenter.org or follow Westchester Medical Center at Facebook.com/WestchesterMedicalCenter or Twitter.com/WestchesterMed.
About Westchester Medical Center Health Network
The Westchester Medical Center Health Network (WMCHealth) is a 1,700-bed healthcare system headquartered in Valhalla, N.Y., with 10 hospitals on eight campuses spanning 6,200 square miles of the Hudson Valley. WMCHealth employs more than 12,000 people and has nearly 3,000 attending physicians. From Level 1, Level 2 and Pediatric Trauma Centers, the region’s only acute care children’s hospital, an academic medical center, several community hospitals, dozens of specialized institutes and centers, skilled nursing, assisted living facilities, homecare services and one of the largest mental health systems in New York State, today WMCHealth is the pre-eminent provider of integrated healthcare in the Hudson Valley. For more information about WMCHealth, visit WMCHealth.org.
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