BACKGROUNDER: New VGH Dual Source CT Scanner

• First of its kind in Canada;
• Total cost: $2.6 million;
• Funding spearheaded by VGH & UBC Hospital Foundation;
• Funded with gifts from Gordon and Leslie Diamond and many donors to VGH & UBC Hospital Foundation’s ‘in it for life’ Fund, which supports the areas of greatest need at VGH, UBC Hospital and GF Strong Rehab Centre to purchase life-saving equipment;
• Uses two X-ray sources and two detectors at the same time;
• Able to scan twice as fast as 64-slice scanner, allowing radiologists to capture the anatomy of the heart with better resolution and imaging (no blurred images);
• Higher speed means patients do not require medication to slow down heart rate in order to capture images. This is particularly important for patients with asthma, emphysema and other ailments that do not permit the administration of such medication;
• Rapid diagnosis optimizes the “golden hour” – the first 60 minutes following a traumatic injury, when immediate care is essential to the patient’s survival.
• Exposes the patient to about half the radiation dose of a CT scanner;
• The two energy levels of the tube allow radiologists to ‘subtract’ either vessels or bone during scanning, to better characterize tumor tissue and to differentiate body fluids; and
• Allows better, more accurate imaging and better quality patient care