'This will make a difference': Machine that can detect cancer early now at LHSC

Dr. Jonathan Romsa (left) and Stephen Nelli (right) discuss the mechanics during installation of the positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET/CT) scanner. (Source: London Health Sciences Centre)

The London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) has obtained a “state-of-the-art” digital positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET/CT) scanner.

The new machine — which will soon be available in the London Regional Cancer Program — can detect cancer in its early stages.

“This will greatly expand imaging capacity with London and our broader region,” says Dr. Johnathan Romsa, chair in the Division of Nuclear Medicine at LHSC.

Romsa says he believes this machine will help limit the number of patients waiting for a scan and allow people to get the medical attention they need in London, Ont., rather than traveling a far distance to other hospitals.

According to Romsa, the machine can scan up to 25 patients a day.

This machine can be found in other hospitals in the country. However, it is the first PET/CT machine at LHSC.

So how does the machine work?

“We inject patients with a radioactive tracer that will get picked up by various organs in your body, and it shows physiological processes,” explains Stephen Nelli, coordinator of nuclear medicine at LHSC. “That radiation is going to be detected by the camera here and that image gets turned into a signal which then ends up on a screen for us to see.”

According to Nelli, the amount of time patients will have to spend getting a scan will be much quicker.

“The comfort for our patients is going to increase and that's going to also increase in that demand that we’re able to meet,” he says.

Other than helping patients before a potential diagnosis, during cancer treatments and after, it will also be available for people with epilepsy, dementia and cardiac-related health issues.

The machine will begin operating at the hospital at the end of October 2022.