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MUSC, Roper to share PET scanner technology 

Roper Hospital has finalized a plan for operation of its Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scanner that will include cooperative use with the Medical University. The MUSC Board of Trustees approved the plan at its Feb. 9 meeting. 

“We're quite excited to have the opportunity to work with MUSC and bring this significant technology to our area,” said Jim Melton, M.D., a Roper Hospital radiologist. 

“This is a huge advancement for health care in this area,” said Edward L. Berdick, president and CEO of CareAlliance Health Services, parent company for Roper Hospital. “Thanks to the work of physicians and staff of Roper Hospital and MUSC, we have been able to create a major cooperative effort between both public and private facilities for the benefit of our patients and the community.  We hope this is the first of many such cooperative relationships between us and MUSC that are being made possible through the leadership of President Ray Greenberg.”

Currently, patients must travel outside of the state to receive a PET scan.  PET precisely detects early metabolic changes, which can significantly enhance the diagnosis and treatment of disease in the fields of oncology, cardiology and neurology. This will provide the most up to date diagnostic equipment for all residents of the Charleston area and the state as a whole without the duplication of expensive equipment. 

The plan is viewed by CareAlliance and MUSC as the beginning of a new era of cooperation between the facilities. The PET scanner will be located downtown near both cancer centers and will also be convenient to patients throughout the Lowcountry. 

MUSC President Ray Greenberg, M.D., Ph.D., said that the scanner will provide MUSC students and residents with the opportunity to gain experience with the most up-to-date diagnostic equipment. “It will also be an important asset to our biomedical research activities,” Greenberg said. 

The Roper Hospital certificate of need application for a PET scanner was approved by Department of Health and Environmental Control in July 2000. The department allows only four need applications for PET scanners across the state.