A total of 3.100 donors in the local community, individuals, organizations and businesses have worked hard to raise money to make sure Ålesund Hospital has the most state of the art equipment in the whole of the Nordics. The fundraise was driven by the association Foreningen Sjukehuset Vårt.

Ålesund Hospital, Helse Møre og Romsdal HF, provides for existing as well as future diagnostic needs by installing the one of the most advanced PET/ CT scanner in the entire Nordic region.

Ålesund province in central Norway is blessed by being situated in a picturesque archipelago with the impressive seas of the North Atlantic as its closest neighbor. This unique location means that people from the community, roughly 270.000 inhabitants have to travel along Norway’s more than 2.500 km stretch of coastline to the west for specialized medical treatments.

“A total of 3.100 donors in our local community - individuals as well as organizations and businesses - have worked hard to raise the 36 million NOK (equivalent to about 4 million USD) needed to make this project possible including a new building, the training of staff and other things needed.”

“We are very grateful for this and so are our patients. Many of them will now be able to avoid the inconvenience and discomfort of being transported by plane or sometimes even by car for hours to bigger hospitals hundreds of kms away to get the kind of precise diagnosis made possible by the detailed images from a PET/CT scanner.”

30 cm of digital detection coverage

The Discovery™ MI Gen 2 is the second generation of the world’s first digital PET/CT scanner and allows a scalable FOV capable of no less than 30 cm of digital detection coverage. The system has the potential to enable an exceptionally high sensitivity of 30 cps/kBq and includes a CT designed to allow TrueFidelity™ deep-learning image reconstruction to enable image sharpness and improved noise texture¹.

“A total of 3.100 donors in our local community - individuals as well as organizations and businesses - have worked hard to raise the 36 million NOK (equivalent to about 4 million USD) needed to make this project possible including a new building, the training of staff and other needs.”

Ida Fallmyr Jørgensen, Project Manager, Ålesund Hospital

The PET/CT system has the potential to enable an exceptionally high sensitivity of 30 cps/kBq and includes a CT designed to allow TrueFidelity™ deep-learning image reconstruction to enable image sharpness and improved noise texture.

The PET/CT system has the potential to enable an exceptionally high sensitivity of 30 cps/kBq and includes a CT designed to allow TrueFidelity^TM deep-learning image reconstruction to enable image sharpness and improved noise texture.

“We decided on this scanner after a standard tender process, using a comprehensive set of specs and requirements based on our needs today, but also on those we expect in the future,” says Ida Fallmyr Jørgensen, project manager at the clinic and in charge of the acquisition and implementation

from start to finish.

“The quality and the degree of detail we get in the images is superior. The machine is easy to use, and we are happy with features like motion correction based on AI algorithms.”

Ida Fallmyr Jørgensen, Project Manager, Ålesund Hospital

“The quality and the degree of detail we get in the images is superior. The machine is easy to use, and we are happy with features like motion correction based on AI algorithms. All in all, it works well which is of course also what we wanted and expected.”

Used for a broad set of diagnostical needs

The radioactive tracer needed to perform a scan is flown in from capital Oslo once a week. It must be used on the same day as it arrives and the team at the clinic will have to work hard to utilize the tracer to its maximum capacity.

Bioengineer Lena Charlotte Pedersen, who has been working hands-on with the scanner since the beginning, explains:

“It’s still early days for us and we are still learning. Today, we use the scanner and tracer on up to 6-8 patients per day, our aim is to increase this to 10 patients per day.” ”We use it for a broad set of diagnostical needs, e.g., when looking for lung cancer, endometrial cancer, lymphoma, malignant melanoma and other types of oncological diseases. We also use it for cardiovascular diseases and even signs of dementia. In the coming years, we expect that prostate cancer will be an area, where we will need to scan a significantly increased number of patients. We therefore aim to start with F18-PSMA/Ga-PSMA (Prostate Specific Membrane Antigen) tracers for prostate cancer examinations.”

“Many of the patients will now be able to avoid the hassle and discomfort of being transported by plane or sometimes even by car for hours to bigger hospitals hundreds of kms away to get the kind of precise diagnosis made possible by the detailed images from a PET/CT scanner.”

Per Erik Tødenes, Head of the diagnostics clinic, Ålesund Hospital.

The PET/CT system has the potential to enable an exceptionally high sensitivity of 30 cps/kBq and includes a CT designed to allow TrueFidelity™ deep-learning image reconstruction to enable image sharpness and improved noise texture.JPG

Obvious benefits all the way around

The earlier and faster a patient can receive the best and most accurate diagnosis, the better the chances for a successful treatment and the more patients Ålesund Hospital have the capacity to serve. Not to mention the cost savings and discomfort for the patients when they have to be flown to St.Olavs Hospital in Trondheim, hospital Ålesund collaborate closely with or even further away.

The benefits are also felt in other ways, says Ida Fallmyr Jørgensen:

“Getting a scanner like this has attracted a lot of attention from colleagues and professionals from across Norway, which we have not had before. This is a great inspiration for everyone and helps us build and develop our skills and knowledge. Who doesn’t want to try and work with a cutting-edge piece of machinery like this one?”

"Getting a scanner like this, is a great inspiration for everyone which helps us build and develop our skills and knowledge even further."

Ida Fallmyr Jørgensen, Project Manager, Ålesund Hospital

The Association Foreningen Sykehuset Vårt was founded in 2019.

The association’s aim is to work for “Outstanding and equal health services” in the health region Helse Møre and Romsdal in Norway. The association is led by a board with a strong political, economic and professional standpoint. The chairman from the start has been Runar Paulsen.

The association’s first project was the fundraising for the PET-CT scanner for Ålesund Hospital with the aim of strengthening the health region’s offer for diagnosing cancer patients.

Through the project, the Association has developed a close and good collaboration with the management of the Health Foundation, as well as the professional communities and employees at Ålesund Hospital. The association has been able to engage people of the community, other associations, businesses and the political circles in the southern part of the county, and the project has given the association high credibility and legitimacy.

REFERENCES

1. https://www.gehealthcare.com/products/molecular-imaging/pet-ct/discovery-mi-gen-2

2. Ålesund Hospital - Helse Møre & Romsdal HF and GE Healthcare do not have any contractual relationship beyond the fact of being end user of a GE medical device.