AL UDEID AIR BASE, Qatar— The human body is complex and difficult to understand at times, therefore when there is something wrong with it, it can be just as complex to diagnose the issue. At Al Udeid Air Base, the 379th Expeditionary Medical Group relies on an equally complex piece of equipment, a Computed Tomography Scanner, to see inside of the body and diagnose medical issues that may arise for deployed personnel.
The CT scanner works by utilizing a moving x-ray that circles the area of interest, and creates a detailed three-dimensional image of the body and any internal structures.
“The CT scan combines motion with x-rays to develop a three-dimensional image of the body so that the radiologist, physicians, veterinarians and surgeons can make a well-informed decision,” said Master Sgt. Daniel Johnson, 379th Expeditionary Medical Support Squadron biomedical equipment technician.
“The CT scanner is a tool that is able to help us make a series of diagnoses that would usually be much more difficult to make,” said McArthur. “If doctors don’t have it, it really hinders them.”
There was a CT scanner at Al Udeid AB previously, but eventually it needed replacing. The new CT scanner was in place and operational within four months of the old CT scanner breaking, and saw its first scan on Oct. 17.
The CT scanner is not only brand new, but also features improved capability processing. The old CT scanner was a “16-slice” scanner, whereas the new scanner is a “64-slice” scanner.
Johnson explained that the new scanner has four times better imaging quality than the old one, and also subjects the patient to less radiation exposure than the previous scanner.
“Think of it as a high-definition image,” said McArthur. “The images have smaller ‘voxels’, three dimensional pixels, which allows for better quality. As a 64-slice scanner it also allows for quicker scans, so the patient’s movement doesn’t interfere as much and cause blurring.”
After the previous CT scanner broke, Al Udeid AB no longer had the capability and doctors with the 379th EMDG had to send patients to Doha to receive scans, or have them sent to Germany.
“We were really uncomfortable there for a bit when we didn’t have a CT scanner, and we were uneasy in regards to our patients,” said McArthur. “We were stuck with getting people downtown or sent to Germany just for a CT scan, and that could take up to 10 hours in some cases.”
When the new CT scanner came in, it increased the capability of the 379th EMDG to quickly and efficiently diagnose patients, in turn increasing the war fighting capability of the entire base.
"We are here to provide health care to our people out there," said McArthur. "Our CT scanner may not be heavily utilized, but it is very important for those cases in which it is. We are able to keep our people in the AOR, and help them immediately."