The Royal Bournemouth Hospital proudly unveiled its new CT scanner on Friday, the first of its kind in the world, enabling Dorset patients to benefit from the very latest technology and improving the quality of their care.
Trust Chief Executive Tony Spotswood cut the ribbon on the New Generation Toshiba Aquilion One CT scanner at a special event attended by staff from the hospital’s award-winning Radiology Department and representatives from technology giant Toshiba.
The scanner offers faster scan times enabling scanning of body parts that are unable to be kept still, such as the coronary arteries. It also has an incredible ability to scan metallic implants and the tissues around them – a notoriously difficult area for CT scanning – and has a larger scanner gantry hole which reduces anxiety and allows for scanning of larger patients.
Clinicians from hospitals from the around the UK and Europe will now travel to Bournemouth to see how the scanner works, and the many benefits it has for patients.
Tony thanked staff for working flexibly to provide scanning services throughout the whole week, adding: “We are immensely fortunate in getting the first scanner of its type in the world. We are already seeing some of the benefits and we know there are still further capabilities.”
Matthew Benbow, Superintendent Radiographer, said: “We have had a long relationship with Toshiba, this being their fifth installation at the Royal Bournemouth Hospital. While all its scanners have been great, this latest model is something really special.
“We are very privileged that Toshiba chose us for this installation, which was down to their confidence that we will be able to exploit all the benefits this new machine will offer.
“We will now help show what it can do to other potential Toshiba customers both from the UK and Europe, as well as ensuring that our local patients benefit from this latest technology.”
