Predicting heart attack with Australia’s first photon counting CT scanner

More than 15% of people who suffer a heart attack have no traditional risk factors to indicate they’re at risk, and for some, it can happen without warning.

One of those people is Kym Bielby, a 61-year-old man who came to the Royal Adelaide Hospital with his first episode of chest pain and was diagnosed with a heart attack. It all came as a big shock to Kym, as he didn't have prior symptoms.

Kym underwent a coronary angiogram and had a stent put in one of his arteries, now he’s part of a new trial at SAHMRI’s Clinical Research Imaging Centre (CRIC) where researchers are using Australia’s first Photon Counting Computer Tomography (PCCT) scanner to measure the presence of fatty blockages in the hearts of patients living with heart disease.

The technology offers a revolutionary advancement in cardiac imaging due to its unparalleled image quality, higher spatial resolution and lower radiation dose. This translates into clearer, more detailed images of the heart and its vasculature, allowing healthcare providers to detect cardiac abnormalities and much more accurately predict their risk of heart attack.

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