By Craig T. Kojima, Star-Bulletin
David Yun, left, and Harold Nishida look in to the PET
scanner at Queen's. The scanner can detect and locate tumors
and assess other diseases without surgery.

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New scanner at Queen’s
takes medicine to new level

By Helen Altonn
Star-Bulletin

Of all those on hand to celebrate The Queen's Medical Center's newest technology, Harold Nishida and David Yun probably were the most thankful.

The Positron Emission Tomography scanner saved Nishida, 71, and Yun, 51, from unnecessary surgery and treatment. They are among the first 13 patients to benefit from the advanced PET machine, which can detect and locate tumors and assess other diseases without surgery.

It is one of only two in the world built by Hamamatsu Photonics K.K. of Japan.

Gov. Ben Cayetano, Lt. Gov. Mazie Hirono, Queen's and Hamamatsu officials yesterday attended the opening of the PET Imaging Center, blessed by the Rev. William Kaina.

"I'm really excited," said Dr. Marc Coel, imaging center medical director. "It is a great contribution to the community.... It gives us information we otherwise wouldn't have."

Nishida had been treated for cancer of the lung and brain. When a "little sliver" appeared in images of his brain, he said doctors feared the cancer was back. The scanner ruled that out and "brightened his hopes," Coel said.

Yun, a University of Hawaii professor and Hamamatsu researcher, had an angioplasty and balloon pump after a heart attack July 4.

But tests indicated the bottom of his heart wasn't working and probably wasn't alive, Coel said. "The scanner showed there is living tissue there, which means the function should return," he said.

"It really gave me peace of mind," Yun said.

Instead of "feeling lumps and bumps" in anatomy, Coel said, the scanner is moving medicine into the molecular field, exploring biochemical changes in the body.

Teruo Hiruma, Hamamatsu Photonics K.K. president, looks to a "good healthy condition" for all people from the emerging medical technology.

"This is just the starting point.... You can dream it," he said.

The Queen's scanner still is in the testing phase, Coel said. He expects it to be ready for clinical use within a month.

Researchers also hope to learn more about strokes and Alzheimer's disease with the PET scanner. It has 32 rings - current scanners have 16 - with 22,000 detectors to diagnose, treat and hopefully, someday, to prevent some diseases, the officials said.