CT Scan Machine - diagnosing COVID

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China in December 2019. The disease has since spread worldwide, leading to an ongoing pandemic.Symptoms of COVID-19 are variable, but often include fever, cough, headache, fatigue, breathing difficulties, and loss of smell and taste. Symptoms may begin one to fourteen days after exposure to the virus. At least a third of people who are infected do not develop noticeable symptoms. Of those people who develop noticeable symptoms enough to be classed as patients, 14% develop severe symptoms (dyspnea, hypoxia, or more than 50% lung involvement on imaging), and 5% suffer critical symptoms (respiratory failure, shock, or multiorgan dysfunction). Some radiology literature suggests a pivotal role for CT. Ai and colleagues report on 1014 patients who received both RT-PCR and CT in Wuhan, China, during their epidemic. They found that 97% of cases with RT-PCR-confirmed diagnoses had CT findings of pneumonia, and conclude, “CT imaging has high sensitivity for diagnosis of COVID-19”. Chest CT imaging has high sensitivity and high NPV for diagnosing COVID-19 and can be considered as an alternative primary screening tool for COVID-19 in epidemic areas. A CT scan or computed tomography scan (formerly known as computed axial tomography or CAT scan) is a medical imaging technique used in radiology to get detailed images of the body noninvasively for diagnostic purposes. These images provide more detailed information than normal X-ray images. Chest computed tomography scanning in patients with COVID-19–associated pneumonia usually shows ground-glass opacification, possibly with consolidation. Some studies have reported that abnormalities on chest CT scans are usually bilateral, involve the lower lobes, and have a peripheral distribution. Rural areas like Purulia has only one government unit where RT-PCR tests are done. This unit is unable to provide result immediately due to high load. A CT machine can help the doctors to evaluate the clinical finding of a COVID affected patient within few minutes. There is only one CT machine in Purulia to serve a district with a population around 29 lakhs. Moreover the charge is very high and unbearable by most of the people residing here below poverty line. RC Purulia has planned to introduce one machine for the people of Purulia at a reasonable cost and support the community.