Geisinger St. Luke’s Hospital (GSL) soon will begin scanning patients for suspected heart problems using its new GE Revolution Apex 8 Cardiac CT scanner – the medical industry’s most advanced generation of computed tomography scanner.

CT scanners, or “cat scanners,” use x-rays and computers to produce cross-sectional images of the body.

“The GE HealthCare Revolution Apex 8 Cardiac CT scanner’s ability to capture the clearest images of the heart at rest is unparalleled in our area and nothing short of remarkable,” said Gabe Kamarousky, president of GSL, who began his healthcare career as a CT technician.

The new $1.8 million scanner was introduced to doctors and staff of GSL at a ribbon-cutting at the hospital on Sept. 24.

The Geisinger St. Luke’s joint venture, inspired by its mission, “advancing care together,” continues to deliver on its vow to bring the most innovative technology and compassionate care to Schuylkill County and the surrounding community, added Kamarousky. The organization will celebrate its fifth-year anniversary of caring for the Orwigsburg community in November.

The GE HealthCare Revolution Apex 8 Cardiac CT’s image acquisition speed and clarity provide the highest quality and convenience, especially for imaging the heart in patients who have been experiencing chest pain without a known cause.

In a fraction of the time it takes other CTs to produce a scan of the heart, the GE Apex 8 will help Geisinger St. Luke’s cardiologists to rule out the dangerously clogged-coronary arteries that can cause heart attacks, enabling patients to receive medical treatment at GSL, their home-town hospital.

If patients are diagnosed with a heart attack or other serious conditions requiring interventional  treatment such as cardiac catheterization/stenting or bypass surgery, they can be transferred to St. Luke’s or Geisinger to receive care from their award-winning heart teams.

“As our area population ages and requires more specialized medical services, the need for diagnostic cardiac imaging studies rises, too,” said Geisinger cardiologist Charles Peters, MD. “The Revolution Apex 8 Cardiac CT Scanner is the AI-enhanced technology we’ve been searching for, which will help us provide non-interventional studies right here at the hospital for the comfort and convenience of our patients.”

St. Luke’s Director of Computed Tomography David Furman, MD, calls the Revolution Apex 8 Cardiac CT scanner “the biggest upgrade in CT technology that I have experienced in my career.  The speed of the scanner enables us to acquire crisp images of the cardiac structures in the very brief moment when the heart is at rest in-between beats. This will quickly become the first test cardiologists turn to, helping many patients avoid the need for more invasive cardiac catheterization.”

Dr. Furman added that the scanner also can evaluate how much atherosclerotic plaque is present in the arteries of the heart and provide precise measurements of the heart’s anatomy prior to valve repair or replacement and other advanced treatments.

“By having this advanced cardiac CT machine at the GSL Orwigsburg hospital, our patients in the community will really benefit from not just having a state-of-the-art cardiac diagnostic tool but also the option to predict future cardiovascular events risk and thereby initiating early preventive strategies,” said GSL cardiologist Waqas Ahmed, MD.  “Both of these services were not available previously in the area and patients had to travel long distances to get these tests.”

According to Robert Fournier, MD, chair of Radiology for St. Luke’s University Health Network, “This revolutionary technology is clear evidence that Geisinger St. Luke’s continues to remain at the forefront of medical innovation with our longtime partners at GE HealthCare. Not only does it support us in providing top-notch patient care, but it also plays critical roles in our education and research endeavors.”

In addition to obtaining images of the heart, the scanner will be used at GSL to diagnose strokes, traumatic injuries and complex neurologic conditions.

About Geisinger St. Luke’s Hospital

Geisinger St. Luke’s (GSL) Hospital opened in 2019, bringing high-quality, accessible health care to Schuylkill County. A partnership of Danville, Pa.-based Geisinger and Bethlehem, Pa.-based St. Luke’s University Health Network. GSL marked the first time in recent Pennsylvania history that two health care organizations joined together to co-own and co-build a hospital. This three-story, 60-bed acute care hospital with all private rooms, comprises an emergency department with trauma bays, operating rooms, an intensive care unit, a procedure room as well as ancillary services such as 3-D mammography, MRI, cat scan, ultrasound, echocardiology, interventional radiology, vascular imaging, nuclear medicine and X-ray. Specialty services offered include ear-nose-and-throat, cardiology, gastroenterology, gynecology, gynecologic oncology, general surgery, nephrology, orthopedic surgery, primary care, radiology, spine and pain services, and urology services. Since opening, GSL has earned a Leapfrog Safety Rating of A, the Leapfrog Top 50 Safest Hospital award and the Press Ganey Guardian of Excellence award, and has been accredited as a Primary Stroke Center, Trauma Center and Chest Pain Center. In 2024, GSL was recognized by the federal government as a five-star (the highest rating) facility for safety and quality.

 

Information provided to TVL by:
Sam Kennedy