New state-of-the-art CT scanner coming to Ellinwood

The new year will be an exciting time for Ellinwood Hospital and Clinic.

A brand-new, state-of-the-art CT scanner will be installed in January, reports Kile Magner, hospital CEO. “It’s leading edge technology. This new scanner is the first of its kind in the state of Kansas, and we are so excited to be able to provide this to our patients and providers.”

The installment process will take approximately a month, with the previous CT scanner needing to be decommissioned and removed, the floor to be leveled, power supply relocated, and the new CT scanner installed and powered up.

The new CT scanner is the Siemens SOMATOM go.Up, a 32-slice computerized tomography (CT) scanner, and it uses computer-processed combinations of many X-ray measurements taken from different angles to produce cross-sectional (tomographic) images, or virtual "slices", of specific areas of a scanned person, allowing the provider to see inside the body to diagnose without invasive procedures. The scanner also includes a patient table that can scan a range of 160 cm and can accommodate larger patients, up to 500 pounds.

The scanner also allows more freedom in movement for the imaging technicians to help patients. With a completely mobile platform, the workstation can be placed anywhere – in the room, in a control room, or outside the room. This allows technicians to stay with patients longer, help ease fears in small children being scanned, and solve any positioning problems quickly.

“This CT scanner is a great asset for our patients, for our providers, and for our technicians,” said Magner. “It allows us to improve each patient’s experience by getting great images for their providers, and fixing any issues that lead to poor images quickly.”