On every other Friday, an unassuming trailer pulls up to
Bradford Regional Medical Center. Inside, however, is priceless
equipment that provides diagnostic double vision by fusing two
tests into one.

The addition of PET/CT technology to BRMC has catapulted the
facility to provide a service that is available in only 6 percent
of hospitals nationwide.

PET stands for Positron Emission Tomography; CT stands for
computed tomography. Together, the two provide a comprehensive
diagnosis for a multitude of ailments.

“What it is is leading-edge technology,” said Tim Brown,
administrative director of imaging and cardiovascular services.
“Just because we are a rural hospital doesn’t mean that we have to
have that persona about us.”

As Brown explains, the new technology combines the best of both
worlds.

The PET/CT scanner integrates PET and CT technologies into a
single device, making it possible to collect both anatomical and
biological information during a single examination.

The PET scan detects metabolic happenings – such as actively
growing cancer cells – in the body and the CT scan provides a
detailed picture of the internal anatomy.

The scans are fused together to provide a more complete picture
do diagnose cancer, heart and neurology patients.

For oncology or cancer patients, the test can find an active
tumor and point out its exact location. Cardiology, or heart,
patients may have damage to their heart muscle, which the test can
detect.

Also, diseases such as epilepsy and Alzheimer’s can be diagnosed
with this test. The exact region of the brain in trouble can be
shown.

Normally, a patient would have to travel to bigger hospitals in
Erie or Buffalo, N.Y., to have the procedure done.

Brown believes that patients from outside Bradford, including
Olean, N.Y., Warren and Kane, will travel to Bradford to have the
test.

A walk down a short hallway and lift up into a trailer and the
patient travels to a cutting-edge medical mobile machine.

When a patient arrives, they are given an IV and F-18 FDG, a
glucose-based radioactive material, is injected. The patient
remains lying down for 45 minutes to an hour to allow the FDG to
move throughout the body.

FDG travels through the body where glucose is used for energy.
Tumor cells show up on the screen like black spots on film.

The patient then lies on the imaging table and passes through
the machine. All the while, the scanner transfers images to a
nearby computer which projects the images on a monitor. The scan
portion of the test will take about 25 minutes.

The entire process may take about 90 minutes.

“We are very excited to have it here … a service for the
community,” Brown said. “It’s a non-invasive, safe procedure for
patients.”

On Friday, they had seven patients scheduled for the procedure.
In other hospitals where the test has been around for a while, they
do at least a dozen patients.

Brown added hospital officials have been working to get the test
in Bradford for six to seven months.

Another aspect of the test is the complete picture a doctor gets
before the patient even enters the trailer.

When a patient is pre-registered, all previous tests – blood
work, CT scans and x-rays -ðare sent to the radiologist. This
provides a “storybook for an accurate diagnosis. It puts the
picture together,” Brown said.

BRMC shares the machine with Allegheny General Hospital, as well
as hospitals in Reading and Chambersburg.

The test, available only through physician referral, is covered
by a variety of insurances.

The machine comes to Bradford from a contract with Insight.