New Photon Counting CT Scanner to enhance patient care and unlock cardio-respiratory research at Royal Brompton Hospital

A new Photon Counting CT scanner that will enhance patient care and enable ground-breaking cardiac and respiratory research, has been installed at Royal Brompton Hospital, part of Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, building on the specialist hospital’s world-class imaging services.

Academic partners at King’s College London, have used a £2.3 million NIHR capital award to install a new Siemens Healthineers NAEOTOM Alpha Peak Photon Counting CT scanner at Royal Brompton Hospital. As well as enhancing patient care, the new scanner will also enable a new phase of ground-breaking cardiac and respiratory research between the university and hospital.

Embodying the next generation of CT imaging, Photon Counting CT technology (PCCT) can capture multi energy datasets, produce sharper images at higher resolution and support spectral analysis to enhance image contrast. This results in superior clinical image quality and enhances diagnostic capability.

Professor Ed Nicol, consultant cardiologist at Royal Brompton and professor of cardiovascular imaging at KCL, and project lead, said: “With the introduction of PCCT technology, it is possible to achieve higher‑quality images at the same, or in some cases lower, radiation doses than conventional CT scanners. Ultra‑high‑resolution imaging will enable improved assessment of heavily calcified coronary disease, coronary stents and other implanted devices – which will be significant for our patients, many of whom who have complex heart conditions.”

Patients who might previously have needed additional tests after a conventional CT scan, can obtain sufficient information from a single scan using PCCT technology. The higher image resolution reduces indeterminate results by enabling clinicians to interpret scan images more easily – and this can reduce the need for further investigations and repeat hospital visits.

The new scanner brings together leading clinicians, researchers and scientists from the NIHR Clinical Research Facility, the HealthTech Research Centre in cardiovascular and respiratory medicine, and King’s College London’s School of Biomedical Engineering & Imaging Sciences and Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust who together, will deliver ground-breaking cardiac and respiratory research with faster translation to support optimal patient care.

An expert in Photon Counting CT, Dr Jonathan Weir-McCall, King’s College London senior lecturer and consultant in cardiac radiology and, consultant radiologist at Royal Brompton, will lead on the scanner’s collaborative research programme.  Dr Weir-McCall said: “Research is at the heart of the scanner’s mission, with dedicated time for research -imaging allowing the team to explore the full potential of Photon Counting CT for diagnosing and monitoring disease.”

Dr Sharon Giles, director of clinical & research imaging operations, School of Biomedical Engineering & Imaging Sciences, and associate director of the Guy’s & St Thomas’ NIHR Clinical Research Facility said: “We’re delighted to be starting this new phase of operations, based at the Royal Brompton Hospital. The new scanner and its enhanced capabilities are an important addition to our NIHR Clinical Research Facility and Medtech Hub, opening up new opportunities for patients and research teams.”

By combining advanced imaging technology with world leading research expertise, the project will improve diagnostic accuracy, optimise patient experience and support innovations that have the potential to shape the future of care for heart and lung patients in the UK and beyond.