East Lancashire Hospitals upgrades to latest ultrasound systems

Four new ACUSON SequoiaTM systems, from Siemens Healthineers, are now in use at the Royal Blackburn Teaching Hospital, three in the main X-ray department and one in the hospital’s vascular laboratory.

These are particularly busy rooms – in use 12 hours a day Monday to Friday, as well as weekends – and the new equipment means radiology staff are fully able to respond to inpatient demand, undertake interventional procedures as well as outpatient and waiting list pressures.

Moira Rawcliffe, radiology directorate manager at East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “Like many hospitals today, ELHT is working hard to meet the demands of an increasing workload.

"As with many centres, we have seen an increase in demand for imaging. We need advanced ultrasound capabilities to provide more appropriate imaging for our patients – the latest equipment which means patients do not need to return for further imaging.”

The new ACUSON SequoiaTM showcases the next generation of the most popular ultrasound system by Siemens Healthineers to date.

The ACUSON SequoiaTM was developed in response to one of the most prevalent challenges in ultrasound imaging today: the imaging of different sized patients with consistency and clarity.

“All our radiology staff are impressed with the quality of the images, the ease of use and the new technologies available,” added Moira Rawcliffe.

“The contrast and fusion features on the systems allow us to perform biopsies on lesions that would normally require CT, allowing us to free-up time on our CT scanners.”

As part of its Managed Equipment Services contract for radiology in East Lancashire, Siemens provides a comprehensive suite of management services and solutions for all of its medical imaging equipment.