The Carondelet Neurological Institute at St. Joseph's Hospital on Tucson's east side has acquired a new mobile CT scanner, the first available in Southern Arizona, Carondelet officials say.
Traditionally, in hospital settings, patients are transported from their rooms to another area of the hospital to receive a CT (computed tomography) scan. Now, at the Carondelet Neurological Institute, the vital diagnostic tool is available at the patient's bedside.
The new equipment, called a CereTom mobile head CT scanner, is housed in the institute's neuro critical care unit.
"The portable CT scanner meets a very significant clinical need," said Dr. Eric P. Sipos, medical director at the Carondelet Neurological Institute.
"We can now keep patients in the controlled, monitored and well-staffed intensive-care setting ... bringing this vital diagnostic tool directly to anyone of our neurological patients in their hospital room."
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A CT scan is a medical-imaging method that generates a three-dimensional image from a series of two-dimensional images.
"It's painless for the patient and provides clinicians with a much more information than an X-ray," said Dr. Robert P. Goldfarb, who is chairman of the institute.
The scanner was bought with private funding from the Armstrong McDonald Foundation.
