Quick whole-body scans will soon be a reality at the Royal North Shore Hospital. Australia’s first Total Body Positron Emission Tomography (TB-PET) scanner will be established in a joint venture between NSLHD and the University of Sydney.
The machine, which will be a flagship of the National Imaging Facility (NIF), is expected to be operational by 2022.
The $15 million TB-PET scanner project will greatly enhance Australia’s biomedical imaging capabilities, deliver improved patient outcomes and boost medical and health science research programs.
Associate Professor Paul Roach, Clinical Director of Nuclear Medicine at NSLHD and Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Sydney, said Royal North Shore Hospital has a proud history of delivering world-class imaging to improve patient outcomes.
“The TB-PET scanner will revolutionise patient care by producing faster and higher quality clinical whole-body PET/CT scans compared with currently available scanners,” he said.
“Patients will undergo their cancer scans in about a quarter of the time they take currently, with some scans taking only a couple of minutes.
“There is also the benefit of lower radiation doses, which is a great outcome for all patients, especially children."
