Inland Imaging LLC, the Spokane-based provider of medical imaging services, has purchased and installed three new low-radiation computed tomography (CT) machines, says Angela Steinbach, manager of CT services for the company. 

It installed the first machine at Inland Imaging’s center at Providence Holy Family Hospital on Spokane’s North Side about a month ago, Steinbach says, and the second at that location two weeks later. The third machine is in part of the space that Inland Imaging occupies in the newly opened Providence Medical Park in Spokane Valley. 

This type of CT machine usually costs about $1 million, without any additional options, Steinbach says. She declines to disclose exactly how much Inland Imaging paid for its three machines. 

The machines use a lower dosage of radiation, something that previously would’ve resulted in a less-clear image. 

“In the past, to lower the dose with any significance, you’d have to sacrifice a bit of image quality,” Steinbach says. 

The new machines use a software called iterative reconstruction to clean up the image after it’s taken, she says. 

“Basically what is does is de-noising,” Steinbach says. “In the past, when you lower the dose, you got a noisier image. This goes through the image and cleans up the noise and makes it a high-quality image again.”

The machines are also what’s known as wide-bore, meaning the opening where the patient lies is wider than traditional scanners. The new machines also can accommodate more weight; one of the machines is approved for up to 660 pounds, which Steinbach claims is the first of its kind in Spokane. 

Inland Imaging decided to invest in the new machines as part of its ongoing commitment to lower-radiation scans, Steinbach says. 

“We’ve been working on this for years now, to lower the dose as low as we can but still get a diagnostic study,” she says. “This way, nobody has to sacrifice, as far as the image quality and getting a low dose at the same time.”

So far, Steinbach estimates that about 100 scans a day for the last five weeks have been done between the two machines at Holy Family. The company plans to purchase similar CT scanners for its offices at 525 S. Cowley and 12420 E. Mission.