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Fact Sheet

64-Slice CT Enables Quick, Non-Invasive Diagnosis

• The accuracy of a computed tomography scanner (CT) is determined by the number of images, or “slices,” it can capture in one scan. Older models capture four, eight or 16 slices during a single test.
     
• New 64-slice scanners provide the most detail now available. The technology is featured in the new Memorial Hermann Imaging Center in Medical Plaza 4 on the campus of Memorial Hermann Southwest Hospital.
     
• Enhanced quality allows physicians to view highly detailed images of the vessels that deliver blood to the heart, brain and extremities, enabling physicians to detect vascular disease and assess the risk of strokes and heart attacks. It can help accurately detect the three main causes of mortality in patients experiencing chest pain – aortic dissection, pulmonary embolism and coronary artery disease.
     
• The 64-slice CT scanner reduces test time to approximately half an hour. It captures images of the heart in five heartbeats and of other organs in a single second, shortening the amount of time patients must hold their breath.
     
• This quick testing time makes the technology ideal for assessing problems in children and trauma patients. An injured person’s entire body can be scanned in 10 seconds.
     
• The new scanner also is useful in capturing high-resolution images of the bones, lungs, colon, delicate inner-ear structures and abdominal organs such as the kidney and liver.
     
• For more information, please call 713-456-5150. The new Medical Plaza 4 is located at 7789 Southwest Freeway.

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