Photo by Alexis Tarrazi New Jersey Institute of Radiology’s Hussein M. Abdel-Dayem, M.D., and manager Kristien B. Andrews stand in front of New Jersey’s first Biograph-64 PET/CT, which will allow physicians to pinpoint the location of cancer within the body before making treatment recommendations.

By Alexis Tarrazi
Senior Reporter

CARLSTADT (Sept. 13, 2007) — Choosing an imaging center can be difficult, but finding a patient-friendly office with state-of-the-art equipment, is just around the corner. The New Jersey Institute of Radiology, 630 Broad St., Carlstadt, has just what the doctor ordered.

“Of course, we give the best service to our patients. We want our patients to know that,” said Hussein M. Abdel-Dayem, M.D.

NJIR, an advanced diagnostic imaging center, provides patients with the highest quality medical imaging services and offers board-certified radiologists and licensed technologists to give the most accurate and comprehensive diagnostic information. Abdel-Dayem uses the most advanced technology available, including a Biograph-64 PET/CT and SPECT/CT. Both machines are the only ones in New Jersey and cost around $6 million total.

“By using the newest technology, we save patients procedures, surgeries or treatments that may not be necessary,” Abdel-Dayem said.

A Biograph-64 PET/CT isn’t something people typically discuss, so how do patients know what it is and how it’s better than any other PET/CT? Positron Emission Tomography (PET) and Computerized Tomography (CT) are both standard imaging tools that allow physicians to pinpoint the location of cancer within the body before making treatment recommendations. The PET/CT conducts two scans — anatomic images and functional images — and fuses both images together to provide more complete information on the location of the problem. The Biograph-64 PET/CT displays 4 mm, which is the highest resolution in the market versus 5 mm to 7 mm in other systems. PET resolutions are measured in volumes; therefore, a gain from 5 mm to 4 mm doubles the resolution and improves the quality. The machine is also faster, which lowers the amount of radiation exposure.

With another machine, a scan could miss a very small cancer, but with the Biograph-64, the disease can be detected earlier and treated faster. “It is like high definition. For example, the difference between looking at a standard television and a hi-def television,” Abdel-Dayem said.

Additionally, the machine can better detect if the cancer has spread anywhere in the body and if the treatment is working. After only one or two cycles of chemotherapy, the scan can detect whether the treatment is having an effect or not.

“We are the first ones to bring this technology here,” Abdel-Dayem said. “How I treat my patient is how I would treat myself.”

NJIR is also the first private facility to offer SPECT/CT services in the entire state of New Jersey. SPECT/CT is used for bone scans to detect cancer, infections or fractures. SPECT/CT works similar to PET/CT by fusing anatomic and functional images together to detect problems more easily. For example, SPECT/CT can be used to scan the colon. Instead of going through a colonoscopy, this scan can sometimes be an alternative.

After each scan, patients are given a CD with all of their images on it to take home, instead of x-ray slides.

To schedule an appointment or to find out more information, call 201-372-1020 or visit www.NJIRonline.com.