One Second Heart Scans

Reported June 2008

BALTIMORE (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- The latest generation of CT scanners is here, capturing pictures of whole organs in seconds!

John DeFord has an arrhythmia -- a heart condition that slows down life a little. "So I can walk on a treadmill, but I can't run," DeFord told Ivanhoe. "I can exercise, but not vigorously."

Today, his condition is being fixed, but first, cardiologists need a picture of his heart. Now, a new CT scanner -- one of the most powerful in the world -- can capture an image in less than one second! "The most unique part is taking a picture of the heart in one heartbeat or less," Richard George, M.D., a cardiologist at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, told Ivanhoe.

The new scanner collects enough data to produce a three-dimensional image of almost any organ in the body. "One of the most exciting things is getting a more accurate image that is easier to analyze and an image that we trust our results that we're reporting," Dr. George explains.

The new scanner can produce 320 -- or an even more detailed 640 -- cross-sectional images or slices. Then, a computer stacks up the slices to create 3-D pictures. Doctors can better see subtle changes in blood flow or blockages forming in tiny blood vessels in organs, with amazing detail and accuracy.

The one second scan exposes patients to less radiation and allows more patients to receive the scan. DeFord's heart scan is being used as a guide to help speed up his life. "I'm hoping to get my life back," he says. Now, getting it back can take just seconds.

The new 320 slice CT is only located in two places in the United States: Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston and Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore.

The American Association of Physicists contributed to the information contained in the TV portion of this report.

Click here to Go Inside This Science or contact:

David March, Senior Media Relations Representative
Johns Hopkins Medicine
Baltimore, MD 21231
(410) 955-1534
dmarch1@jhmi.edu

Jason Bardi
American Institute of Physics
for the American Association of Physicists in Medicine
(301) 209-3091
jbardi@aip.org

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