Catching Cancer Early: Silver Cross Acquires PET/CT Imaging System

Caption: Melissa Kocolowski, Nuclear Medicine and PET/CT Technologist, performs a scan on a patient. Silver Cross Hospital recently acquired the advanced imaging technology for early cancer detection.

By Tracy Simons | Silver Cross Hospital

Silver Cross Hospital in New Lenox is enhancing its diagnostic imaging capabilities with the addition of a new, state-of the-art Positron Emission Tomography/Computerized Tomography system (PET/CT). This advanced technology, which is now located inside the Hospital’s Imaging Department, offers early and highly accurate detection of cancer.

A physician’s order is required, and patients can call (815) 300-7058 to schedule an appointment.

“Now that PET/CT is in-house, this allows for greater scheduling flexibility and patient scanning comfort. We are able to provide a better patient experience,” said Dr. Darius Keblinskas, Medical Director of Imaging Services at Silver Cross Hospital. Previously, patients needing a PET/CT would have their tests performed inside a mobile trailer on the hospital’s campus.

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Positron Emission Tomography–Computed Tomography, or PET/CT, is a medical imaging technique using a device which combines in a single gantry, both a PET scanner and a CT scanner, so that images acquired from both devices can be taken sequentially, in the same session, and combined into a single superposed image. The imaging obtained provides physicians with information about the body’s metabolic activity and exact location of disease.

PET/CT has revolutionized medical diagnosis in many fields, by adding precision of anatomic localization to functional imaging. Diagnostic imaging procedures in oncology, surgical planning, radiation therapy and cancer staging have been changing rapidly under the influence of PET-CT availability, and centers have been gradually abandoning conventional PET devices and substituting them by PET-CTs.

“For oncology patients, PET/CT is used to determine the exact location and stage of cancerous tissue and can prevent unnecessary surgery and biopsies and inappropriate treatments,” said Dr. Lawrence Schilder, Medical Director of the University of Chicago Medicine Comprehensive Cancer Center at Silver Cross Hospital. “The technology also helps us to monitor patients’ response to treatment to ensure it is working.”

For more information about PET/CT, talk with your physician or visit www.silvercross.org.

About Silver Cross Hospital

Silver Cross Hospital is a not-for-profit health care provider serving Will County and southwest suburban communities since 1895. Silver Cross has been recognized as a Thomson Reuters 100 Top Hospitals National Award winner for seven consecutive years and as a Hospital of Choice by the American Alliance of Healthcare Providers. With nearly 4,000 employees, physicians and volunteers, Silver Cross operates a 295-bed acute care hospital and 5 satellite facilities providing outpatient services and physician offices. Silver Cross opened a state-of-the-art replacement hospital in 2012 at I-355 and Route 6 in New Lenox. In 2013, Silver Cross provided over $48 million in charity care and other community benefits. To learn more about Silver Cross Hospital or a referral to a physician on staff, visit www.silvercross.org or call 1-888-660-HEAL (4325). Physicians on Silver Cross Hospital’s Medical Staff have expertise in their areas of practice to meet the needs of patients seeking their care. These physicians are independent practitioners on the Medical Staff and are not the agents or employees of Silver Cross Hospital. They treat patients based upon their independent medical judgment and they bill patients separately for their services.