North West Cardiac Centre at Blackpool Victoria hospital transforms cardiac care with cutting-edge CT scanner
The North West Cardiac Centre has taken delivery of a new state-of-the-art CT scanner, helping clinicians diagnose complex heart conditions faster and more accurately.
The specialist heart centre based at Blackpool Victoria Hospital has taken a major step forward in cardiac care with the installation of Canon Medical’s Aquilion ONE/INSIGHT Edition CT scanner - an advanced system designed to tackle increasingly complex heart conditions with speed, precision and clarity.
Blackpool is the specialist centre for anyone with heart issues across the North West, and most patients are transferred to Victoria Hospital
Heart and circulatory diseases currently affect over 7.6 million people in the UK and with cases becoming more complex due to longer lifespans and multiple co-existing conditions.
The demand for faster and more accurate diagnostics is growing. The new CT scanner is a critical upgrade for Blackpool Victoria, which serves as a tertiary cardiac centre for Lancashire and Cumbria.
The hospital scans around 4,500 patients per month including more than 50 cardiac patients each week.
The new scanner delivers four times the resolution of the hospital’s previous system and can capture a full image of the heart in just 0.24 seconds - helping radiographers diagnose high-risk patients more efficiently and with greater confidence.
Ben Ward, CT Imaging Manager at Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: “The new scanner is truly transformative for our cardiac service. The Aquilion ONE / INSIGHT Edition offers four times the resolution of our previous system, and the faster rotation time of 0.24 seconds can capture images of the whole heart in a single heartbeat, even in patients with complex arrhythmias.
“Staff also genuinely enjoy working with the new scanner – it’s easy to use and our self-contained cardiac unit is a lovely environment to be in.”
The scanner’s performance is powered by Canon Medical’s INSTINX platform, which features a user-friendly interface, drag-and-drop protocols and real-time workflow adjustments.
This has significantly improved consistency, reduced training time and boosted overall team efficiency.
The hospital also operates two additional Canon Medical CT systems - one in the Emergency Department and another in a mobile Community Diagnostic Centre (CDC).
The CDC alone scans up to 39 patients daily, supporting early diagnosis efforts, including cancer referrals and reducing pressure on hospital services.
With this investment, Blackpool Victoria Hospital is not only improving care for individual patients but also meeting the growing regional demand for specialist cardiac imaging.
Colin Murray, Account Manager at Canon Medical Systems, said: “Having the right equipment in place is about adapting to the evolving demands and needs of a department and patient cohort.
“In this case, Aquilion ONE / INSIGHT Edition is enabling Blackpool Victoria Hospital to treat increasingly complex cardiac cases in line with the wider needs of the UK population.”