JPMC Offers Computerized Injection System for PET Scanner Patients
03/04/2013
Jane Phillips Medical Center is one of only two hospitals in Oklahoma to offer a computerized injection system for PET scanner patients. In JPMC’s Cancer Center is the MEDRAD Intego Infusion System, which safely injects patients with a short-lived radioactive “tracer” prior to being scanned with Positron Emission Tomography.“With this new infusion system, each dose is calibrated to a patient’s unique physical attributes,” said Bob Walker, JPMC Manager of Diagnostic Imaging. “The dose for someone of my height and weight is going to be much different from someone much smaller.”
Since the infusion system is automated, clinical staff does not have to prepare and administer the dosage by hand. “This technology enhances safety and increases convenience for both our staff and our patients,” said Walker. JPMC recently installed a new PET/CT scanner which is a vital imaging device that produces higher-quality three-dimensional images and critical diagnostic information in the detection of conditions—including many cancers—that cannot be seen by conventional x-rays or nuclear medicine scans.
“This is the premium imaging system available today and we are excited to offer this technology to patients in our service area,” said Sam Guild, JPMC Vice President of Clinical Services. “The clarity of the images produced by this scanner gives our physicians even greater ability to accurately diagnose disease in all types of patients and at an even earlier stage when treatment may be more effective.” PET reveals the body’s metabolic activity including both normal and abnormal tissue activity (tumors), while CT reveals the body’s detailed anatomic structure. The PET/ CT scanner combines these two powerful imaging tools into one exam to enable physicians to more accurately detect tumors and pinpoint their precise location in the body.
JPMC had been using a mobile PET/CT scanner that was housed in a large tractor trailer that visited Bartlesville twice a week. That arrangement was inconvenient for both patients and medical staff. The new PET/CT scanner was installed in the Diagnostic Imaging area at the hospital. “By having a permanent PET/CT scanner on-site, patients enjoy enhanced access, availability and comfort along with much faster scan times,” said Guild. In oncology, PET/CT provides for early diagnosis, more accurate tumor detection and precise localization, improved biopsy sampling, and better assessment of patient responses to chemotherapy and radiation therapy.
“This new technology provides physicians with potentially life-saving insight and could reveal illnesses much earlier than conventional diagnostic procedures,” Walker said. “This could eliminate the need for ineffective or unnecessary surgeries, treatments or other diagnostic tests.”
The $1.6 million technology was partially-funded by generous donations to the Bluestem Medical Foundation, which supports the mission of Jane Phillips Medical Center.
