We Pledge to Personalize Your CT Imaging Experience
Our new CT scanner delivers the crystal clear images your doctor needs. And our technicians now also have the unique ability to personalize a CT exam just for you. That means you receive half the radiation of conventional scanners. We’re so confident in our imaging ability that every one of our radiology technicians personally pledges to always make your care—including your CT scan—personal.
SH is the first in the area to invest in this important technology. We’re here to provide you the utmost in safe, comprehensive, cost-effective imaging that helps your doctor help you. We’re also here to offer you the personal care you deserve, to promote wellness and to help keep you healthy. You are our priority. That’s why we’ve invested in the most advanced CT imaging technology available.
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We’re committed to personalizing your CT exam and to minimizing your exposure to radiation.
CT scanners use x-rays to capture images of the body from various angles, but it’s their ability to combine those images of both bone and soft tissues to make cross-sectional images of your body that make CT scanners an indispensable tool for diagnosis.
The new Siemens SOMATOM Definition CT scanner—only available in the tri-states at Southwest Health—now offers a remarkable combination of low dose radiation, high-speed testing, and crystal clear images.
Depending on the type of study being performed, SH’s new Siemens SOMATOM Definition CT scanner exposes patients to 30 to 60 percent less radiation than conventional scanners. That’s because SH radiology technicians can personalize the dose of radiation for your specific test and your specific body. The result is a safer exam for you and crystal clear high definition images for your doctor.
Note that despite this lower exposure, pregnant women should always avoid any type of x-ray imaging exam.
Reducing the radiation exposure has no effect on the speed of the new Siemens SOMATOM Definition CT scanner. This powerful scanner delivers images in half the time of standard CT systems and is the fastest CT system on the market. This allows immediate feedback, swift assessment without invasive surgery in life-threatening situations, plus the ability to freeze-frame any heart beat (including arrhythmias). As a result, patients with asthma, chronic bronchitis, and emphysema can now take advantage of advanced CT.
Even though the new technology uses half the radiation, our new scanner delivers unprecedented image quality at twice the resolution of other scanners. With higher image quality, physicians at Southwest Health can make even more precise diagnoses. The Definition enables doctors to obtain detailed images of heart problems, tumors, and soft tissues that expand the previous boundaries of imaging and enable your doctor to see more clearly than ever before.
In addition, previous scanners did not allow all patients to take advantage of CT scanning, such as the obese or those with shortness of breath or elevated heart rates. Using the new scanner at SHC, physicians are not able to bring the power of this advanced diagnostic technology to all their patients.
Ask your doctor about the safest CT scanner in southwest Wisconsin. And insist on SH.
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Computed Tomography (CT) is a fast, painless, non-invasive, diagnostic imaging procedure that uses a combination of x-rays and advanced computer technology to produce cross-sectional images of the body. These detailed, three-dimensional images help your doctor see with precision to pinpoint what’s happening and improve your diagnosis.
The images can be compared to looking down at any number of single slices of bread from a loaf, though in the case of CT, the images show much more than those from standard x-ray machines. Your doctor can look at these images individually or perform additional visualization to look at your body from different angles. With the new Siemens SOMATOM, slices can be combined to create 3-D images.
A CT scan has many uses but is particularly well suited to quickly examine people who may have internal injuries from car accidents or other types of trauma. A CT scan can be used to visualize nearly all parts of the body.
- Detect strokes, head injuries, diverticulitis, or appendicitis.
- Look for problems in the lungs, heart, esophagus or the soft tissues inside the chest.
- Find tumors, bleeding, disease, kidney stones, bladder stones or blockages, such as those in the urinary tract.
- Examine the gall bladder, bile ducts or glands or spleen.
- Diagnose problems of the pelvic organs, including the uterus, ovaries, fallopian tubes and prostate,
- Determine causes of pain in the arms, legs, shoulder, ankle, wrist, hand, hip, knee, ankle or foot.
What happens during the examination?
During the test, you will lie on a table that is attached to the CT scanner, which is a large doughnut-shaped machine. The CT scanner sends X-rays through the body area being studied. Each rotation of the scanner takes less than a second and provides a picture of a thin slice of the organ or area. All of the pictures are saved as a group on a computer. They also can be printed.
A scan usually takes 15 to 30 minutes. The table slides into the round opening of the scanner, and the scanner moves around your body. The table will move while the scanner takes pictures. You may hear a click or buzz as the table and scanner move. It is very important to lie still during the test.
During the test, you may be alone in the scanning room. But the technologist will watch you through a window. You will be able to talk to the technologist through a two-way intercom.
Scans are performed by a trained radiology technologist, and they are read by a physician radiologist, who will write a report. Scans and the radiologist’s report are often also used by family physicians, internists, surgeons, or other specialists.