New CT Scanner at Legacy Heart Center Makes Leading Edge Cardiac Care More Accessible
Scanner Gives Doctors a Detailed Snapshot of the Heart in Seconds without a Trip to the Hospital
PLANO, Tex. – Legacy Heart Center’s newly opened facility on Preston Road has added a LightSpeed computed tomography (CT) system to its array of leading-edge cardiac diagnostic, testing and treatment services, becoming the first private cardiology practice in North Texas with the advanced CT scanner.
The LightSpeed scanner, which is manufactured by GE Medical Systems, allows Legacy Heart Center cardiologists to non-invasively capture exceptionally high-resolution images of vascular structures, the heart and coronaries in fewer than five heartbeats, something no other CT system can offer.
"The system provides images that will allow us to complete a thorough, non-invasive cardiac exam that will show any blockages in the coronary arteries, the pumping action of the heart, the blood flow in the heart muscle and provide a coronary calcium score that can be used to assess a heart disease risk, and do it all in less than five heartbeats," explained Waenard Miller, MD, Legacy’s managing partner.
"It further demonstrates our commitment to making leading edge cardiac care more accessible to our patients," he added.
The addition of the LightSpeed system complements and extends the range of quality diagnostic services that Legacy offers area residents including one of the first echocardiogram laboratories in the United States to be accredited by the Intersocietal Commission for the Accreditation of Echocardiography Laboratories (ICAEL).
The new 43,000-square-foot office and diagnostic laboratory at 6601 Preston Road, which opened April 18, brings together Legacy’s 15 cardiology specialists and more than 100 other medical and administrative staff that previously operated out of five separate facilities.
The cardiologists at Legacy have a history of being on the leading edge of cardiac care. It is the only practice in the DFW Metroplex approved to use the Medtronic CrossPoint© TransAccess© Catheter, which offers a potential alternative to invasive bypass surgery of the leg, and was among the first to offer patients the Cypher Sirolimus-eluting stent for use in opening blocked arteries in the heart. The stent slowly releases a drug coating that helps prevent scar tissue growth, which leads to re-blockage.
The Center is also conducting a number of clinical research studies involving a variety of new pharmaceuticals and medical devices related to cardiac care.
The LightSpeed CT system is the fourth evolution of GE’s LightSpeed® CT platform, the CT scanning system that revolutionized the industry in 1998. It creates images analogous to a single “slice” of bread from a whole loaf.
Originally developed in the 1970s, CT or “CAT” scans combine the power of X-ray technology and computers -- allowing physicians the ability to view wafer-thin cross-sections of internal anatomy without the need for surgery.
Legacy physicians treat patients at the primary medical centers in Collin County, including Medical Center of McKinney, Presbyterian Hospital of Plano and Baylor Regional Medical Center at Plano.
