The most advanced technology in the world is helping doctors save lives at Methodist South Hospital. GE Healthcare’s Lightspeed® Volume Computed Tomography (VCT) system arms doctors with some of the clearest and most detailed images of the carotid and coronary arteries to diagnose disease and life-threatening illnesses, including cardiovascular disease, stroke and chest pain.

“The Lightspeed® VCT system allows us to provide patients in our community the highest standard of care possible,” said Dr. Jim Boals, Jr., medical director of radiology at Methodist South Hospital.

The scanner revolutionizes diagnostic speed for patients, helping patients get the appropriate treatment much faster. Physicians can capture images of a beating heart in just five heartbeats, an organ in one second, and scan the entire body in 10 seconds.

“The rate of speed that the Lightspeed® VCT system captures images is simply astounding,” said Dr. Boals. “This ability to rapidly capture images makes it possible for us to perform cardiac and vascular imaging in a non-invasive manner.”

In a single rotation, the Lightspeed® VCT creates 64 high-resolution anatomical images as thin as a credit card. These images are combined to form a three-dimensional view of the patient’s anatomy for doctors to analyze. From these images, physicians can view such things as blockages in the coronary arteries as well as the motion and pumping action of the patient’s heart.