Northern Health unveils new state-of-the-art PET/CT department

Northern Health is proud to announce the launch of its new PET/CT department, which commenced operations on Monday, 12 August 2024, and will be fully operational by the end of the month.

The PET/CT team is led by a distinguished group of Nuclear Medicine Specialists, including A/Prof Stephen Schlicht, Dr Tony Hannah, Dr Raghava Karri and Dr Vivek Baskaran. They are supported by a dedicated team of nuclear medicine technologists under the leadership of Chief Nuclear Medicine Technologist, Carly Sibson.

The new PET/CT facility will greatly enhance access to imaging services for a diverse range of patients, including inpatients, outpatients, and those from community and private hospitals. This advanced imaging technology is primarily used for diagnosing and managing various types of cancer. Additionally, it plays a crucial role in diagnosing neurodegenerative diseases, inflammatory and infectious conditions, as well as some cardiac disorders.

PET/CT imaging involves administering a radioactive tracer that helps assess the metabolic activity of cells. This tracer emits positrons, which are detected by the PET scanner. Cells with high metabolic activity, such as those in cancer or infection, will accumulate the tracer, making them visible on the PET scan. The CT component provides detailed anatomical images, which are superimposed on the PET scan to offer comprehensive information about disease locations.

The new PET/CT service promises a significant improvement in both imaging access and quality of care, particularly benefiting patients under the care of oncology and haematology teams. The state-of-the-art Siemens Vision 600 PET/CT scanner, a leading digital PET scanner combined with a fully diagnostic CT, enables rapid scan times, high-resolution images, and a reduction in radiation dose to patients.

Carly Sibson, Chief Nuclear Medicine Technologist, expressed her excitement about the new service.

“It is exciting to be involved in the introduction of a new imaging service to Northern Health and I’m proud to be a part of it. For me, knowing that we will help our cancer patients more easily access the imaging they need is very rewarding. We can reduce discomfort for our patients by significantly reducing scan times with this PET/CT technology. We may only play a small part in each patient’s journey but with the new PET/CT service and the amazing team we have working in the department, we can make a positive difference to their overall experience,” she said.

A/Prof Terry Kok highlighted the significance of this development by saying, “The new PET/CT service is yet another major milestone in our objective to expand the scope and quality of Medical Imaging services at Northern Health. I’m very proud of the hard work that our Nuclear Medicine and project teams have invested into making this a reality.”

A/Prof Stephen Schlicht, one of the Nuclear Medicine Specialists, praised the new facility.

“Northern Health has invested in arguably the best PET/CT technology currently available – the Siemens Vision 600 PET/CT. This state-of-the-art digital PET scanner combined with a fully diagnostic CT results in superb diagnostic image quality in terms of resolution and sensitivity. The scanner is housed in a new purpose-built facility to ensure our patients’ scans are not only of the best technical quality but also that their experience is as positive as possible. I am delighted to be part of NIV at Northern Health with my other medical colleagues, technical, nursing, and clerical team in providing this critical new in-house imaging service.”

The new PET/CT department is conveniently located on the ground floor of Northern Hospital Epping, opposite anatomical pathology.