THE Singapore General Hospital and the National Heart Centre have invested $5.1 million in new high-tech machines to improve the detection of heart diseases.
The scanners will allow doctors to take very detailed and more accurate pictures of a person's heart and blood vessels, and to do so faster and with less risk to the patient.
Using the machines - one of which is for computed tomography (CT) and the other, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) - does not involve the insertion of tubes into the body, which could result in bleeding complications in some cases.
At the moment, to pinpoint blockages in blood vessels, doctors carry out an angiogram, which often requires hospitalisation.
With the new CT scan, patients are injected with a dye, and asked to lie down for the scanners to take the X-rays. After which, they can go home.
The new MRI scanner will go beyond simply identifying the heart muscle that is affected by heart disease, which is the case now. It will also quantify the damage to it.
Speaking at the opening of the new SingHealth Centre for Advanced Non-Invasive Cardiovascular Imaging at SGH yesterday, Dr Terrence Chua, 46, who heads the heart centre's cardiology department, said: 'We hope that the use of new technology will be able to allow doctors to identify the problems and to treat them early, so patients will have a much better chance of recovering.'
Despite the new machines, the two medical centres will continue to use existing methods like ultrasound tests and the electrocardiogram.
Doctors will turn to the new machines only in complex situations. And patients will need a referral and go through health screenings first.
Dr Chua said that the cost of the scans will be similar to that for using the older machines.
A non-subsidised MRI scan now costs between $900 and $1,200, and a CT scan between $350 and $800.