A second Toshiba Aquilion 64 CT scanner has recently been installed at Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. The new system joins an Aquilion 64 that was opened last year by the England and Newcastle rugby star Jonny Wilkinson. Situated in the Victoria Wing at the recently rebuilt Royal Victoria Infirmary, this latest acquisition also comes equipped with a comprehensive array of software packages, including Virtual Colonoscopy. The new system is being used the whole spectrum of CT imaging, including paediatrics

Selected by the Trust for its superb image quality, the new system is faster and more efficient, offering the most advanced technical innovations together with outstanding patient comfort and safety. Featuring Toshiba’s unique 64-row Quantum Detector, it enables the scanner to acquire 64 simultaneous slices of 0.5 mm with each 400-millisecond gantry revolution. The result is precise isotropic imaging of any region of the body during a breath-hold of less than ten seconds.

Wendy Wright, CT Superintendent Radiographer says, "We are finding the system very fast in terms of data acquisition and the image quality is excellent. We also like the easy-to-use software on the Vitrea workstation." Wendy continues, "The colonoscopy package is particularly useful and we are now replacing barium exams with virtual colonoscopy. Our colorectal surgeons find this a very valuable and effective tool, giving them better preoperative and staging information than the barium enema examination."

Shown here (left to right) Allison Wishart and Helen Knight, CT Radiographers, David Bibbs, Account Executive Toshiba Medical Systems, Wendy Wright, CT Superintendent Radiographer, and Margi McHallum and Mairi Whiteford, CT Radiographers