CHI St. Alexius Health Innovates By Investing In Mobile Digital PET/CT Solution

CHI St. Alexius Health has invested in a Tomography-Computed Tomography (PET/CT) imaging system to add to its Radiology Services. This will allow St. Alexius will be the first to offer this service to the region in Bismarck and Williston as the high-tech images capture changes at the cellular level — identifying diseases like cancer — in their earliest stages.

“CHI St. Alexius Health doesn’t settle when it comes to identifying the best possible technology we can use to advance patient care in our community,” said Deb Mohesky, MBA, MS, ACPEC, BCC, FACHE and Market President/CEO at CHI St. Alexius Health. “We chose the mobile digital PET/CT because it is of the highest, most modern standard and we believe we can offer better diagnosis and treatment to our community because of it.”

PET images reveal metabolic activity in the body, but lack the detail to identify the exact location. The CT scan provides an anatomical reference. Together, these two scans allow you to view metabolic changes in the proper anatomical context.

The digital PET/CT technology offers improved image quality with 80-slice CT, detection of lesions as small as 1.4 mm, shorter scan times and smaller injections of radioactive material, reducing radiation exposure. Another feature is motion correction, which monitors a patient’s breathing and adjusts for image distortion. It also reduces artifacts in joint replacement, dental and metal implants.

Shared Medical Services (SMS) is helping bring this new technology to CHI St. Alexius Health. Through a strategic collaboration with United Imaging, SMS is the first in the United States to offer a mobile digital PET/CT unit.

“We are excited to bring digital PET/CT technology to the Bismarck and Williston communities,” Mohesky said. “It will improve patient care through enhanced imaging, aid physicians in diagnosis and treatment plans, and increase patient satisfaction.”