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Grand River Hospital has two CT scanners in the medical imaging department. Both are located at our KW Site, 835 King Street West in Kitchener in the medical imaging department, on the second floor of the hospital’s D wing.
In operation Monday to Friday from 7:00 am to 9:00 pm, and on Saturdays, Sundays and stat holidays from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm, we also provide on-call support outside of these hours.
Our scanners can acquire up to 16 and 64 slices per rotation respectively. Patients lie on the CT table and are moved into the middle of the scanner (gantry). The x-ray tube rotates around them in 360 degrees with a detector opposite to the tube collecting the data. This data is processed by the computer and produces cross-sectional images for diagnosis.
We are also able to look at images from different angles (forward and side views). Viewing the body from different perspectives is very beneficial for radiologists in diagnosing conditions.
Some tests require a contrast media. The two forms of this media are as follows:
- Oral contrast is given to patients an hour before the study to enhance the stomach, small and large bowel on the scans. Oral contrast is in the form of water, dilute iodinated contrast or barium.
- Intravenous: An iodine based liquid injected into the patient’s vein to allow enhancement of the vessels supplying organs and tissues as well as the organs themselves. Intravenous contrast can be harmful to kidney function if the patient has compromised kidney function. It is very important to have recent creatinine results for patients (measurement of kidney function) before the injection of IV contrast media.
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