East Georgia Regional Medical Center CT scanners can produce clearly defined three-dimensional images of all body systems - including organs, bones, arteries and veins.

Using high speed x-rays that rotate in continuous 360-degree motion around the patient, incredibly detained laser images of cross-sectional slices of the body are created on a computer screen.  Tissue abnormalities, tumor masses, tiny fractures, displaced bones, and unusual accumulations of fluid may be detected so that physicians can pinpoint exact areas of treatment.

We have expanded our services to meet the needs of area patients and physicians by obtaining a new 64-slice scanner.  This CT (Computed Tomography) scanner will enhance diagnostic imaging services beyond any healthcare provider in the area.  With this machine, East Georgia Regional Medical Center has the most advanced CT scanning site in Bulloch County.

The CT is a type of rotating x-ray that uses a computer to produce exact, clear, still, cross-sectional images ("slices") of parts of the body.  The number of slices refers to the number of images that can be generated with one rotation of the gantry, the circular shaped part of the scanner.  It differs from the current 4 or 16 slice scanners available in the community.  So, instead of 4 or 16 images in one rotation, a 64-slice scanner can produce up to 64 images in one rotation.  Think of it like a loaf of bread, slicing the loaf in 4, 16 or 64 slices.

The ability to image more quickly in thinner sections over larger distances drastically improves image quality and speed, and allows for improved diagnosis.  For example, imagine looking for a tumor the size of a pea somewhere in your lungs.  With other scanners, one rotation will give us 4 or 6 images or slices.  With the advanced machine, one rotation will produce 64 images or slices.  While other machines produce images typically 5.0 mm thick, roughly half the thickness of half a slice of bread, our 64 slice machine can produce images 0.625mm thick, about as thin as a grain of sand.  The more slices we can produce, and the thinner the slices are, the greater the probability of finding that tiny growth in the body.

Comfort, clarity and accuracy are also factors to consider.  Other scanners require asking patients to lie motionless and hold their breath while the gantry circulates again and again and again.  With our 64-slice machine, overall examination time will be reduced, benefiting trauma patients and others in pain.  Not only does this make for a more comfortable exam - especially for trauma patients  - but less motion results in clearer images that are easier to read which can affect the accuracy of the diagnosis.

The machine also offers tremendous benefit for cardiac patients as it can scan the heart, a function we were not able to perform previously.  Because of the motion of the heart, even a 16-slice unit will produce blurry images.  The advanced machine rotates in less than half a second and can be timed in rhythm with a beating heart to produce absolutely clear images of a heart in motion.

The 64-slice scanner is used for a wide variety of conditions including evaluating patients who come through the Emergency Department with internal injuries and skeletal fractures, patients with a multitude of conditions (including chest and abdominal pain), and heart and stroke patients.

For more information about our 64-slice scanner and Computed Tomography (CT) capabilities, call our Radiology Department at 912.486.1620. 

http://www.radiologyinfo.org