Batra Hospital's New CT Scanner Captures Heart Images In 5 Secs

EHM News Bureau - New Delhi

Batra Hospital and Medical Research Centre recently installed a next-generation scanner from GE Healthcare - the LightSpeed Volume CT system, the world's first volume computed tomography (CT) system.

With the new equipment, doctors can non-invasively capture images of the heart and coronary arteries in as few as five heartbeats, capture the image of any organ in one second and perform a whole body trauma scan in fewer than 10 seconds. Due to its astonishing coverage speed, the LightSpeed Volume CT allows doctors to effectively freeze the motion of the heart, helping them to provide accurate diagnosis and, in turn, treatment of heart disease and other life-threatening illnesses.

A L Batra, President, Batra Hospital said, “Coronary heart disease is the number one killer disease in India and the best way to manage it, is to treat it early through timely detection. With the LightSpeed Volume CT system our doctors can help patients stop a heart attack even before it happens.”

Coronary heart disease (CHD) is a major cause for concern in India. According to the most recent global study on cardiac diseases by the World Health Organisation (WHO), every year, 3.8 million men and 3.4 million women worldwide die from CHD and more than 60 per cent of the global burden of coronary heart disease occurs in developing countries.

Dr R K Mathur, Head, Department of Imaging & Radiology, Batra Hospital said, “It provides fast and accurate diagnosis while avoiding systematic recourse to invasive procedures, which offers comfort and well-being for patients, while facilitating medical decisions and surgical procedures for the clinician.”

Dr Rajiv Bajaj, Senior Interventional Cardiologist & Electrophysiologist, Department of Cardiology, Batra Hospital said, “With this breakthrough, scanner we will be able to diagnose a patient's illness much faster, enabling us to begin treatment more quickly in a crisis and save lives.”

Dr Rajiv Agarwal, Senior Consultant Cardiologist, Department of Cardiology, Batra Hospital, “For the first time, we are able to non-invasively diagnose heart disease in at-risk patients, including patients who we were unable to scan previously due to either rapid heart beat or because they were unable to hold their breath long enough.”

V Raja, President & CEO, GE Healthcare Technologies, South Asia said, “I want to congratulate Batra Hospital for being the first hospital in North India to install the LightSpeed Volume CT.”

The typical cost for a coronary angiography is around Rs 17,000 to Rs 20,000, plus additional hospitalisation expenses and other related expenses. A LightSpeed Volume CT scan on the other hand would cost a patient less than half this amount with the added benefit of being non-invasive, thereby doing away with the pain and trauma of having something inserted in the body.

LightSpeed Volume CT was first introduced globally in June 2004 and over 700 installations have been done all over the world including three installations in India.