A new machine that will be used to scan patients for heart problems, invisible fractures, cancer and other hard to detect disorders has been installed by Armidale Radiology, allowing patients to have the vital scans locally without enduring long car trips to either Coffs Harbour or Tamworth.
The sophisticated SPECT/CT scanner – which takes two different types of scans then merges the images together, will provide doctors with more precise information about how different parts of the body function and help more accurately localise problems such as active tumours and inflammation.
Armidale Radiology’s Dr Martin Young said the scanner combines SPECT nuclear medicine images, which show aspects of body function, with CT images, which highlight body structure, to give a more accurate result than using either technique by itself.
“SPECT images are obtained following an injection of a radiopharmaceutical which highlights specific areas in the body, depending on the type of scan being performed. For example, it will accumulate in areas of abnormality in the case of bone disease,” Dr Young said.
“The radiopharmaceutical is detected by the nuclear medicine gamma camera which provides the nuclear physician with a SPECT image. A CT scan, taken at the same time on the same machine, will then follow to define body structures at any areas of interest,” he said.
“When we merge the two images together, we can more accurately assess the problem, where it is, how it is behaving and any spread.
“This is especially important for detecting cancer, certain fractures and localising causes of non-specific pain.”
Dr Young said the new technology will also be particularly useful in scanning areas of the body such as the spine and limbs where it is sometimes hard to determine from nuclear medicine imaging alone whether the problem lies in the bone, joints or adjacent soft tissues.
