This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
Listen
Hi-tech scanner for Aberdeen hospital
31/03/2006
New equipment installed at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary will further improve services for cancer patients across Scotland, it was announced today.
The Positron Emission Tomography (PET) imager will allow consultants to determine whether a cancer is spreading, whether a patient is responding to treatment and improve the planning of treatment.
Another new PET imager will be in place at the new West of Scotland Cancer Centre in Glasgow early next year. Both will be linked to Cancer Centres across Scotland where the scanned images can be sent and used to plan local care.
Deputy Health Minister Lewis Macdonald said:
"This is great news for cancer patients all over Scotland. PET imaging is a state of the art way of tracking and treating cancer.
"The kit in Aberdeen and Glasgow will link back to the other three cancer centres in Scotland. This means clinicians will be able to see the results instantly and treatment planning can be started immediately.
"Cancer treatment in Scotland is as good as anywhere in the world - with new drugs and state of the art radiotherapy equipment in all of our cancer centres.
"Our continued investment in equipment such as PET imaging will ensure patients continue to get a high quality service backed up by state of the art technology."
In March 2003 #5m capital investment from 2004-05 was announced to support the development of PET services in Scotland.
The new equipment in Glasgow should be installed between January and March 2007, co-located at Gartnavel Hospital with the new West of Scotland Cancer Centre.
Scotland has five Cancer Centres. They are situated in Aberdeen, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee and Inverness.