PET/CT team of the Virgen del Rocío University Hospital.
The Hospital Universitario Virgen del Rocío has incorporated a PET/CT team (Positron emission tomography) last generation that allows shorten examination times for patients. This new technology, completely digital, offers the possibility of scheduling shorter sessions and, by using a lower activity of the radiopharmaceutical, reducing the radiation dose to the patient.
The start-up of the equipment has had the intervention of the units of Nuclear Medicine, Radiophysics, Electromedicine and Information Technologies. Specifically, the equipment will be installed in the Nuclear Medicine Service of the General Hospital after adaptation works, for which a investment that exceeds 2.6 million euros.
As the head of the Radiophysics service at the Virgen del Rocío University Hospital has underlined, Javier Luis Simon, “the implementation of this new technology has led to the development of new protocols and quality control procedures adapted to new clinical needs”.
How does the PET/CT device work?
The new PET/CT equipment is fully digital, made up of more than 20,000 lutetium crystals, has a 25-centimeter-wide detector, structurally organized in five rings, which facilitates a greater field of view of certain complete morphological areas, and the reduction of the time required for full-body acquisitions.
Thanks to this technology, doctors will be able to count on a hybrid imaging by performing positron emission tomography and computed tomography studies at the same time (PET/CT). For the installation of equipment with these characteristics, it is necessary to previously coordinate the installation processes with the necessary legalization of the radioactive facility with the Nuclear Safety Council.
One of its main advantages is that, by performing explorations in a more agile way, it is making it possible for more than 40 percent of additional studies can be performed daily, which considerably reduces waiting times. The speed and accuracy of the equipment offers technical improvements for special patients or patients with a high demand for examinations.
In these cases, sensitivity is a determining factor since professionals can carry out studies, even of small oncological or nervous system lesions, in just 10 minutes with high image quality. This is achieved thanks to the high detectability and access of all available tracers with better contrast and resolution.
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