UNT HEALTH SCIENCE CENTER TO ESTABLISH IMAGING AND RESEARCH CENTER
FORT WORTH, Texas -- The University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth will establish a Multidimensional Imaging and Research Center on its campus, officials announced today. The centerpiece of the Imaging and Research Center will be an advanced computed tomography scanning system that performs ultra-fast non-invasive total body scans. The scanning system will have higher resolutions and faster scanning speeds than CT scanners now in use. Congresswoman Kay Granger presented the health science center with a check from the Health Resources and Services Administration. The $492,230 in federal funding will support the purchase of the scanning system, with the remainder provided by state and private funds. The estimated total cost of the system is $2.5 million. Physicians at the health science center will use the technology to aid in diagnosing diseases such as heart disease and cancer before symptoms appear in patients while researchers will use it to study the mechanisms of disease pathology. "Our mission as an academic medical center focuses on primary care and preventive medicine. We provide high-touch medical care with high-tech tools," said Ronald Blanck, DO, health science center president. UNT Health Science Center will work with the HealthView Center for Preventive Medicine, a California-based scanning center that originated the "body scan" and has become a leader in the CT scanning industry, on the project. The HealthView scanner uses a significantly faster CT scanner with proprietary software (AngioCAT ™) to rapidly scan the torso, resulting in stop-action 3-D views of the patient's beating heart, breathing lungs, and other organs. By looking at this cross-section of a patient's body, doctors use this non-invasive test to detect health problems, including heart disease and cancer, in their earliest stages. HealthView is now conducting clinical trials on Volume AngioCAT ™, the next generation of imaging technology that will enable a total body ultra-high resolution scan in just seconds. "The HealthView scanning system changes the paradigm of medical care from reactive diagnoses and treatment to pre-symptomatic diagnosis and finding diseases in their earliest stages," said Harvey Eisenberg, MD, founder of HealthView and inventor of the AngioCAT ™ software. "The absence of symptoms does not indicate the absence of disease," Dr. Blanck said. "This technology allows us to detect diseases and begin treatment earlier. We'll also counsel patients who wish to modify their lifestyles to hopefully prevent them from developing diseases such as heart disease, cancer, or diabetes." Health science center researchers will also use the Volume AngioCAT ™ technology to examine physiological changes caused by cancer, cardiovascular disease, Alzheimer's disease and other diseases. The Imaging and Research Center will be located in the health science center's new Biotechnology Center and Public Health Building. Construction is set to begin in November, with an estimated opening of late 2003.
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