Existing CT Infrastructure Supports Colon Screening
A study presented at the ARRS meeting indicates that both outpatient clinics and hospitals will not need to upgrade or purchase new CT systems to address growing rates of participation in colon cancer screening. The facilities have adequate multislice CT capacity to meet these needs, as reported on Diagnostic Imaging.
These concerns alight as CT colonography has recently been included as one of the appropriate modalities to complete screening for colon cancer, as reported on HospitalBuyer. The unanswered question is whether or not facilities can handle the additional volume to CT scanners secondary to increased use for this additional application.
A team from the University of Wisconsin at Madison completed a study in which they utilized mathematical probability models to determine the number of screenings that would be completed each day based on the existing number of suitable CT scanners available across the U.S. Only multi-slice scanners were included in the calculations. One assumption was that the number of people who would undergo screening with CT would increase over time.
The team determined that over 37 million studies will be completed over a ten year period. After considering when patients will undergo scanning, based on age and the interval in which screening is completed, it was determined that 1.5 studies would be required for each unit on a daily basis. At most, data indicates that scanners would be used twice daily for CT screening.
May 8, 2008 Related topics: Imaging, Diagnostic