What makes photon-counting CT so innovative?

‘It’s fair to say there’s quite broad concern in the community among general practitioners, specialists and patients about the effects of radiation from [conventional] CAT scans,’ Dr Murray says.

Addressing the issue, the new technology uses advanced detectors that capture X-rays at lightning speed, cutting radiation by more than 50 per cent and providing far more detailed images.

‘It provides a truer and more useful representation of the tissues underneath, which improves diagnosis and reduces the need for multiple scans, further lowering radiation exposure,’ he says.

The machine has ultra-high spatial resolution around four times that of a standard CT machine, which allows a more accurate assessment of small structures like the coronary arteries and early developing lung cancers. It can also see straight through impediments such as metal stents or calcium.

‘It’s been shown already with this new machine that its accuracy means that around 50 per cent less people are sent for an invasive catheter angiogram from the CAT scan,’ Dr Murray says. 

‘We have scanned just over 2,000 patients so far – we’re able to produce the most wonderful images of the coronary arteries that are answering questions confidently that we couldn’t answer before.’

Making important diagnostics affordable for patients.

The state-of-the-art technology is, unsurprisingly, costly. To cope with the enormous amount of data coming from the detector and converting to an image, the machine uses an exceptionally powerful computer.

‘The computer that is used has a 7.5 terabyte RAM, which makes it very expensive – several times more expensive than any other high-end CAT scan machine,’ Dr Murray says. 

Though getting the technology required the practice to take on extra debt through BOQ Specialist, it has always been Dr Murray’s vision that patients would not wear additional costs.

‘That was really a philosophical decision,’ he says. ‘I’ve benefitted from the wisdom of my elders through my career and learning what a patient will baulk at and what they’re likely to go for – and I think it’s unrealistic to be charging hundreds of dollars in gap.’

Dr Murray says specialising his practice in heart and lung imaging has meant ChestRad is highly efficient and able to achieve high volumes of scans.

‘Our medical-imaging technologists are very slick at acquiring these scans, so that leads to an economy of scale for the particular work we do,’ he says.

‘We would scan 20 or 30 hearts a day – I doubt there’s anywhere else in Australia that does those numbers of patients, so it’s very efficient.’

Bringing the vision to life.

Despite Dr Murray’s passion and belief that the technology would be good for both patients and business, he needed supporters to make it a reality for his clinic.

Thankfully, he says, the advantages of the technology are so obvious, it hasn’t required a lot of energy to bring people on board – both professionally and financially.

Referring doctors have quickly embraced the service, while BOQ Specialist developed a deep interest in his business plan to greenlight the finance.

BOQ Specialist lender Josh van Bruchem says once he learned how the technology would revolutionise chest and coronary imaging, and saw the business case, he immediately knew it was an endeavour worth supporting.

‘We invested in Conor and his ability,’ Josh says. ‘It was our understanding of his practice, our understanding of his strong networks, and knowing that he fully understands the speciality that he operates in – it made it much easier for us to say, “This is something we want to support.”’

Dr Murray says he is grateful BOQ Specialist quickly understood the significance of the technology.

‘That personalised service and the curiosity BOQ Specialist have about what’s going on medically really made the difference,’ he says.

Josh says BOQ Specialist is proud to have supported Dr Murray in purchasing equipment that improves services available to the community.

‘It aligns with our community values,’ he says. ‘And it gives us a level of bragging rights that we funded this piece of equipment that no one else in the state has their hands on.’

Changing diagnostics in Australia.

Dr Murray believes the huge step forward in the safety of CAT scans will lead to an explosion in vital testing.

‘CAT scans are incredibly useful tests, and they’re becoming more and more palatable as the radiation goes slower,’ he says.

He explains photon-counting CT will make CAT scan technology an option for a broader spectrum of the community, including those previously considered vulnerable to radiation such as young children and those with a known cancer.

‘Mainly the growth, I believe, will be in detecting very early changes in cancer, so we’ll know very early if we’re winning or not with treatment, and also picking up the very earliest cancers and watching them more closely.’

Innovation benefits the community.

Though his practice is small, Dr Murray believes by setting the benchmark, it plays an important role in helping to lift the standard of care more widely. 

‘We can only scan so many patients a year,’ he says. ‘But by being the first movers with this technology we can encourage our competition to follow, so the flow-on effect in terms of benefit to the community will be much larger because of the investment we’ve made.’