Editor and Publisher

LAPLACE – How big of a deal is the new Philips Bright View Nuclear Gamma Camera recently installed and put into operation at River Parishes Hospital?

&#8220This is the first one in the United States that any hospital has gottenŠ.really,” Nuclear Medicine Technician Kyle Cason said.

So needless to say, Cason, a 25-year veteran of RPH in the radiology department, is sincerely excited about the prospects that the new technology will bring to the St. John health care facility.

Nuclear Medicine is a term used to describe what Cason said is the &#8220second oldest form of imaging.” It involves a patient ingesting isotopes, which are then detected by cameras to give a picture that shows functions of the human body, as opposed to the anatomy photos from MRI’s or x-rays.

The new machine at RPH has several advantages over MRI machines, since it can see things such as blood clots in lungs, tumors in the prostate, and is the best way to detect bone cancer.

&#8220MRI machines certainly have their place, but Nuclear Medicine Cameras allow us to see other things that MRI machines can’t pick up,” Cason noted.

The Bright View camera can do a complete body sweep in under 15 minutes for most cases, and Cason said there are approximately 30 different tests they can do.

RPH managed to get the machine since they have two very experienced radiology department employees in Cason, along with Dr. Julian Foreman, a nuclear medicine radiologist with 35 years of experience in the field.

Cason said that the hospital had been looking into some kind of machine like this since &#8220we wanted the most up to date equipment for our hospital. We heard the camera was going to be available, and we had a good reputation, so I went to California in June and tested it.”

RPH spent approximately $300,000 to get the camera, and has also added new software that allows them to read results twice as fast as they could before.

Recently appointed River Parishes CEO Charlotte Dupre said that the machine was key in the efforts by the hospital to have the best technology available.

&#8220River Parishes Hospital is proud to offer such outstanding, one-of-a-kind technology to the residents of our community. The Bright View SPECT camera is the first of its kind in the nation. This diagnostic equipment is a true representation to the commitment we have for treating our patients in the river parishes.” Dupre said.

Cason views the machine as a way to make sure he is doing the best he can for his patients.

&#8220I’m honestly excited about having this since after 25 years in this profession, my patients are what matter most to me, and this will help me detect things in patients with a tremendous advantage,” Cason said.

Not only does RPH now offer the first in the U.S. camera, but Philips will also be using the hospital as a show site for other health care facilities to come and see the machine in use.