DAYTON – Premier Health has expanded imaging services to offer digital Positron Emission Tomography (PET)/Computer Tomography (CT) scans at Miami Valley Hospital South. In addition, upgrades have been made to the existing PET technology at Atrium Medical Center and Upper Valley Medical Center.

The digital 80 slice PET/CT scanner by United Imaging Healthcare Solutions offers scan times of less than 15 minutes along with lower radiation doses and improved image clarity.

“We are excited to provide this advanced technology to our entire service area, making it accessible and close to home for our patients,” said Gabe Chiappone, director of ambulatory outpatient imaging for Premier Health. “The patient experience will be improved with faster scan times and a comfortable setting. The ultra-high resolution along with the ability to detect very small lesions will give our providers another powerful tool to assist in early diagnosis.”

Among advantages of this digital PET/CT scan is the ability to detect diseases before symptoms and signs arise. The scan also can be an alternative to a biopsy and other exploratory surgeries used to determine how far a cancer has spread and can differentiate between non-cancerous and cancerous tumors.

In addition to its use in the detection of cancers and extent of cancers, this technology also has been found effective for diagnosing early stages of certain neurological conditions such as Alzheimer’s, epilepsy, and mental conditions.

A PET scan detects changes in cellular function – specifically, how cells utilize nutrients like sugar and oxygen. Since these functional changes take place before physical change occurs, PET can provide information that enables a physician to make an early diagnosis. A CT takes cross sectional images of the body. These are combined with the information from the PET scan to provide more anatomic details of the metabolic changes in the body.