New portable CT scanner at NSMC provides faster brain scans 4/30/2007 The Daily Item of Lynn SALEM — Emergency care for patients with brain injuries or neurological impairments, like a stroke, has taken another leap forward at North Shore Medical Center (NSMC) Salem Hospital, with the installation of CereTom, the world's first portable and wireless head and neck CT scanner.
 Each move is a risk for these patients because it could cause further injury, this mobile CT scanner allows quicker and easier scans and enables patients to remain in their beds while receiving brain scans.
“For stroke and brain injury patients, getting a CT scan done as fast as humanly possible from the time patients come to the Emergency Department is crucial. Having a CT scanner in the room, that is dedicated to brain scanning and nothing else, ensures the fastest possible response,” said NSMC's acting chair of emergency services, Mona Sigal, M.D. “The portability is especially important when the patient needs mechanical breathing assistance and is hooded up to IVs and monitors. Moving these patients is a real risk.”
Traditional CT scanners weigh as much as 9,000 pounds and require a dedicated power supply system. The CereTom is not only lightweight and portable, but easy to use, and delivers the same resolution and quality as larger CT scanners.
NeuroLogica, the company that makes the CereTom, is based in Danvers, and works closely with NSMC radiologists. In fact, NSMC is the company's beta site for the training of technicians.
NSMC is designated as a Primary Stroke Service Hospital by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. This means that both NSMC Salem and Union hospitals follow national standards to ensure that diagnostic and therapeutic services are provided by a team available 24 hours a day for patients with symptoms of acute stroke.
NSMC (North Shore Medical Center) is a multi-site health system headquartered in Salem, which includes Salem Hospital, Union Hospital in Lynn, North Shore Children's Hospital, the NSMC Cancer Center, NSMC Heart Center, NSMC Women’s Center and the physician network known as Charter Professional Services Corporation. NSMC is a member of Partners HealthCare, which was founded by Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women's Hospital.
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