Canton-Potsdam Hospital improves CT procedures with live scan upgrades

July 31--POTSDAM -- With new live CT scanning technology, improvements are in sight for radiologists and patients at Canton-Potsdam Hospital. Staff at the hospital are now aided by CT fluoroscopy, technology that significantly reduces the time it takes to do difficult procedures.

Computed tomography fluoroscopy, a type of CT scan, essentially provides a live 3D X-ray of a radiologist's needle as it moves through the body. The software is loaded onto a computer in the scanning room, which the radiologist can toggle on and off with a foot switch. "You can watch the needle live. That's the big advantage," radiologist G. Michael Maresca said. "You can watch yourself doing it."

Before CT fluoroscopy, Dr. Maresca had to move the needle a millimeter at a time for many centimeters, scanning before each move in a separate room. Though tedious, the method was necessary to prevent puncturing vital systems during procedures.

"You want to make sure when you put that needle in, you're not going towards a large vessel or an adjacent organ you don't want to hit," said Stacie M. Woodward, director of imaging and cardiology.

Procedures that incorporate CT scanning, known as interventions, used to take 30 to 60 minutes to perform. By eliminating the time-consuming back and forth of the old method, interventions can now take 15 minutes or less. With such short times, the hospital is able to do three to seven a day.

"With this system now, we can do three separate biopsies of the liver in under a minute," Dr. Maresca said.

Other procedures that CT fluoroscopy will improve include draining of abscesses, injections for joint pain, lung biopsies and lesion sampling to check for cancers.

Difficult procedures such as a cholecystostomy -- which prepares the gall bladder for drainage -- benefit greatly from the real-time images the technology provides, allowing radiologists to probe and confidently puncture the gall bladder wall. "I would never have taken a poke like that without knowing," Dr. Maresca said of a cholecystostomy he recently performed.

Being able to do procedures of varying difficulty quickly and accurately translates into fewer patient transfers, shorter hospital stays and lower costs, benefiting the hospital and its patients, Dr. Maresca said.

So far the outcomes have been good, with very few complications, according to Mrs. Woodward.

There is no additional cost to have a CT fluoroscopy procedure done.

Those concerned about whether or not they are eligible for procedures that use the technology should consult their doctor and insurance provider.

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