Fort Loudoun Medical Center is pleased to announce we have expanded our diagnostic imaging with the recent installation of the new Siemens SOMATOM® Definition AS CT scanner. A breakthrough in computed tomography (CT) technology is enabling physicians at Fort Loudoun Medical Center to obtain clearer images of the body and make timelier diagnoses.
Fort Loudoun Medical Center offers the innovative FAST CARE platform that helps to maximize clinical outcomes, while providing automation tools that can potentially improve patient satisfaction. Additionally, the system helps achieve outstanding images at a lower dose through its innovative Combined Applications to Reduce Exposure (CARE) features.
The capabilities of the SOMATOM Definition AS scanner enable physicians at Fort Loudoun Medical Center to examine patients of all sizes.
“The SOMATOM Definition AS enables us to bring advanced CT technology to our patients,” said Jeffrey Feike, President and CAO at FLMC. “This technology couples multiple components in a dynamic manner to provide greater exam consistency at a low radiation dose. The technology automation offered on this scanner help our technologists to spend even more time focusing on our patients.”
The SOMATOM Definition AS at Fort Loudoun comes equipped with some of Siemens newest technologies to overcome daily challenges in medical imaging. For example, many patients, not just the elderly, may have implanted metal devices – devices such as hip implants, dental fillings, etc. These devices can oftentimes cause metal artifacts that can distort clinical images or even render them unreadable. Siemens’ Iterative Metal Artifact Reduction (iMAR) technology helps provide additional diagnostic information by reducing metal artifacts — even in the most challenging cases. The result is an outstanding image quality with metal artifacts reduced, while valuable information remains.
CARE Applications
SOMATOM Definition AS delivers a comprehensive range of CARE applications for dose reduction. These include, for example CARE kV, which is software that enables the SOMATOM Definition AS to suggest the correct tube voltage depending on the patient’s anatomy and the organ to be examined. All other parameters are automatically adjusted to suit the selected kV level. Based on a comparison of current scanners currently available on the market, voltages commonly used today lie between 80 and 140 kV (kilovolts). However, CARE Child CT examinations can be performed using just 70 kV, enabling the potential for reduced dose in pediatric imaging.
Physicians at Fort Loudoun Medical Center are able to use the Definition AS to help make faster and more confident diagnoses in emergency and acute care settings, particularly in examining patients with acute chest pain, abdominal pain, and suspicion of stroke. Physicians can now review results before the patient has left the table, allowing them to provide immediate feedback and quickly determine treatment options. With a robust scanner such as the SOMATOM Definition AS the high image quality can be obtained even for those patients who are obese, short of breath or who have elevated heart rates.
A Step Above
The imaging technicians at Fort Loudoun take our patients’ healthcare a step above by personalizing protocols that physicians utilize for particular diagnoses. In many instances, patients incur additional trips for additional scans that could have been offered the same day. Our staff are proactive in providing direct communication with the patients’ physician office to ensure the area of the body we are scanning is the best and most efficient to correctly diagnose symptoms all in the same visit.
Fort Loudoun Medical Center is conveniently located off HWY 321 in Lenoir City at 550 Fort Loudoun Medical Center Drive. To learn more about our complete range of imaging services, visit www.ftloudoun.com/imaging-services.
To schedule an exam, contact us at (865) 271-6070.
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CT, imaging services, Jeffrey Feike, Michelle Knight, Scott Bolin