The launch of a new liver ultrasound screening service at Benenden Hospital, a private healthcare provider in Kent, is the first of its kind in South East England and sees patients avoid extensive NHS waiting lists and attend fewer appointments, whilst affording clinicians improved diagnostic confidence. Enabled by the first ACUSON Sequoia Crown ultrasound systems from Siemens Healthineers in the United Kingdom, the liver scan service speeds up patient pathways and enables earlier intervention for improved patient outcomes.
Gastroenterology consultants at Benenden Hospital, many of whom specialise in hepatology, have relied on referring patients to a local NHS hospital for liver scans when faced with abnormal liver blood tests, until the recent delivery of their two ACUSON Sequoia systems. The introduction of these new systems allows trained sonographers at Benenden Hospital to scan patients on-site – reducing the reliance on high-demand NHS resources and the journey to intervention by up to five months.
The introduction of the service follows NICE (National Institute for Health & Care Excellence) guidance citing liver ultrasound as one of the best techniques for assessing and detecting early liver disease. The ultrasound liver screening service at Benenden Hospital performs an accurate assessment of liver stiffness and fat quantification using Ultrasound Derived Fat Fraction (UDFF), whilst visualising liver tissue for signs of disease. In addition, the ultrasound systems allow imaging of the wider abdominal area to detect issues that mimic liver disease, without the need for a second scanning appointment.
Benenden Hospital offers a range of ultrasound scanning services including musculoskeletal, gynaecological, vascular, abdominal and small parts imaging – running a busy sonography department alongside the new liver screening service. The ACUSON Sequoia systems can be used across this range of applications with a multitude of transducers, including the DAX deep abdominal transducer for improved imaging of patients who are traditionally difficult to scan.
“Our recent adoption of image-led liver scanning, aided by our ACUSON Sequoia Crown ultrasound systems from Siemens Healthineers, has transformed our approach. Accuracy is paramount when using the transducer to visualise the liver for optimum placement of data collection boxes,” states Ali Turner, Director of Clinical Services at Benenden Hospital. “Now armed with our own, precise, image-led scans we can confidently assess liver health with our trained sonographers. The clarity of the imaging and diagnostic reporting is fantastic.”
“At Siemens Healthineers we are delighted to see the first ACUSON Sequoia Crown systems in the country being used in light of landmark NICE guidance around early liver disease detection,” states Mike Arbaugh, Head of Ultrasound for Siemens Healthineers Great Britain and Ireland. “It is great to see the ACUSON Sequoia in its element, serving high image quality across a range of applications and enabling excellence in patient care.”