Liverpool’s first cancer hospital bolsters COVID-19 response with advanced imaging systems

The opening of Liverpool’s first specialist cancer hospital, the new Clatterbridge Cancer Centre – Liverpool, has expanded clinical services in MR, CT, PET/CT and angiography, and supporting the NHS response to COVID-19 – providing access to advanced imaging equipment from Siemens Healthineers.

Originally opened in June 2020 as part of a £162m investment in NHS cancer services in Merseyside and Cheshire, The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre opened on schedule to provide additional NHS capacity during the COVID-19 crisis. The hospital has continued to offer increased imaging capacity throughout the second wave of the pandemic with its newly installed SOMATOM Definition Edge CT and Biograph Vision™ PET/CT systems.

With patient experience and outcomes firmly at the centre of the hospital’s development, The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre selected a range of imaging equipment from Siemens Healthineers for the new hospital. The innovative additions to the hospital’s facilities include an Artis zee angiography system, a 1.5T MAGNETOM Sola MRI scanner and a SOMATOM Confidence CT scanner in addition to the SOMATOM Definition Edge and Biograph Vision systems. Designed to optimise clinical outcomes through high quality, consistent imaging at low dose, the new equipment supports the expansion of clinical services at the new hospital and will enable the delivery of a wide range of highly-specialist cancer care.

“The new equipment will help us to improve the flow of patients – optimising our workflows and expanding our clinical offering,” states Linda Williams, Chief AHP and Business and Clinical Development Manager for Radiology at The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre NHS Foundation Trust, Liverpool. “We have had great feedback from our staff; MR Radiographers love the image quality on the MAGNETOM Sola and our interventional radiology team really like the CT aspect to the Artis zee from Siemens Healthineers. The common platform between systems has facilitated implementation and remote applications training has helped staff to become used to the systems whilst working across different sites.”

“The Biograph Vision PET/CT system from Siemens Healthineers is showing clinical images that are vividly different in terms of what can be seen, particularly when imaging the brain,” states Matt Ward, Higher Principal Clinical Scientist at The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre NHS Foundation Trust, Liverpool. “The system is highly sensitive and six months on from commissioning we’re seeing different aspects of its usability. The Biograph Vision can be used for many things and could potentially help us conduct a range of examinations in just one appointment. In the future, we’re looking to use the system for radiotherapy planning and some research work using OncoFreeze technology.”

“Identifying cancer at an earlier stage can improve patient outcomes and the combination of equipment at The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre has been selected with that in mind,” states Matt Gibson, Diagnostic Imaging Business Lead at Siemens Healthineers GB&I. “Imaging is a key factor in identifying and helping to treat cancer effectively. The latest advancements in technology provide increasing levels of morphological, structural, metabolic or functional information, assisting clinical decision-making and optimising many aspects of the cancer pathway.”