Kids' Scanner Appeal for The Children's Hospital, Sheffield. BBC Radio Sheffield.

A CT scan (or CAT scan) stands for Computerised (Axial) Tomography scan. This means a scan that takes a series of X-rays and uses a computer to put them together.

The CT machine takes pictures of a child's body and gives a series of cross sections or 'slices' through the part of the body being scanned (much like the slices of a loaf of bread but as thin as a credit card). A very detailed picture of the inside of the body can be built up in this way.

The doctors can study each individual slice or put them together to make a 3D X-ray.
A CT scan can show every type of body structure at once including bone, blood vessels and soft tissue.

The CT scanner is a ring-shaped machine. Inside the ring is an X-ray tube that produces a fan-shaped beam of X-rays. The tube rotates around the child's body as they lie flat on an X-ray bed.

The radiographer (a health professional trained to perform imaging procedures) will position the bed so that the part of the child's body to be scanned is in the centre of the scanner.

During the scan the bed will move backwards or forwards slowly. The X-ray tube inside the ring will rotate around the child as the bed moves - this creates a new scan each time it rotates (the new machine will create 64 slices each rotation - our present machine produces just 4).

Before the scan takes place and once the child is in the correct position on the bed, the radiographer will leave the room.

With young children, parents are usually allowed to stay in the room, and are given lead aprons to wear.

The radiographer can see the child through a window and can talk to them through an intercom- the child can also speak to the radiographer. The radiographer controls the position of the bed from outside.

The radiographer will tell the child that they are about to start the scan and will remind them to keep as still as they can.

The scanner makes a soft, fan-like noise, with some clicking as the pictures are taken. Small children refer to CT scanner as the 'doughnut' and often say that it sounds like a washing machine.

During the scan the X-ray bed moves through the scanner so that the part of the body to be scanned is in the machine.

When the child has been scanned the radiographer will ask a radiologist, (a doctor who specialises in using imaging methods to diagnose medical conditions) to look at the images. They will look at the scans while the child is still in the machine and will decide whether more scans need to be taken or whether they have what they need. They will then send a report to the doctor who requested the scan.

When the scan is over, the radiographer will come back into the room and help the child from the bed to rejoin their parents or so that they can be taken back to a ward in the hospital.

Some CT scans need special preparation beforehand. A small proportion of children need to be sedated so they stay still inside the scanner for long enough for the scan to be taken. For some scans, children have a drink or have an injection of 'contrast medium'. This is like a dye that shows up body tissues more clearly on the scan.

Some of the common uses of the CT scan include:

Assessment of body parts' structure or shape
Diagnosis of disease, particularly cancer
Diagnosis of trauma or injury
Aid to planning particular surgeries
Visual aid to certain surgical procedures such as biopsy or needle aspiration
Measurement of bone strength
Alternative to some types of exploratory or diagnostic surgery

The CT scanner is used around 1,600 times a year and the most common part of the body that is scanned at The Children's Hospital is the head - for trauma, injury, and disease.

The current scanner at The Children's Hospital is now over seven years old and the hospital is not benefiting from some of the advances that have been made with technology.

The Hospital Trust (Sheffield Children's NHS Foundation Trust) has to prioritise the medical equipment it purchases and was planning to replace the current scanner with a like for like, standard version ('16 slice'), to continue the service it already offers.

A charity appeal enables the purchase of a much more advanced, state-of-the-art model, to help The Children's Hospital in Sheffield stay at the forefront of paediatric excellence. Through charity support the hospital will benefit from the latest scanner technology and purchase a '64 slice' scanner.

The current scanner at the hospital is a '4 slice' scanner. This means it can only take four slices of the body at once. The scanner that the charity would like to purchase is a '64' slice scanner, which means that it can take more slices in one scan and provide doctors with more information, more quickly.
	The Children's Hospital is currently the best performing children's NHS Trust in the country so we want to be at the forefront of paediatric care, offering the best equipment possible. A good analogy can be made with mobile phones. Lots of us have 'standard' mobile phones for making calls and sending texts, but everyday there are new phones that come onto the market that offer more applications and tools. They are added extras on top of the phone you are getting - they might let you take photographs, access the internet or make video calls. The '64 slic'e scanner will also offer more applications and tools similar to the mobile phone application - for example it will come with extra software:- Virtual bronchoscopy - to avoid a visit to theatre and an anaesthetic for a scope to be inserted down the windpipe to look at the tubes in the lungs. Bone mineral density software - for detailed assessment of the density of bones in, for instance, brittle bone disease.

Once funded, the new scanner will provide images of the body faster than the old scanner, with even lower doses of radiation. The 3D images produced by the new scanner will also be clearer and will provide more information for clinicians to aid in diagnosis and treatment.

The Children's Hospital Charity, The Children's Hospital, Western Bank, Sheffield, S10 2TH. Registered Charity No 505002
Tel: 0114 271 7203 W: www.tchcharity.org.uk