Toshiba donates CT scanner to Kenyan hospital

Toshiba America Medical Systems has donated and installed a refurbished Aquilion 4 CT system at Tenwek Hospital in Bomet, Kenya.

As the training hospital equipped with the area’s first CT system, physicians plan to use it to perform neurosurgical, thoracic and orthopedic studies, as well as provide training to future neurosurgeons. Toshiba donated the system through Assist International, an organization that works with corporate partners to address the medical needs of emerging countries.

Tenwek Hospital serves an area with about 2.5 million people. Before the Aquilion 4 was installed, a patient who required a CT scan would have to travel four hours to a hospital in Nakuru, Kenya. The goal of the neurosurgery program is to train medical students through a five-year curriculum who will then stay in the communities where they were trained, giving those people access to skilled medical professionals.

In addition to the donation of a CT system, Tustin, Calif.-based Toshiba has donated a spare x-ray tube to the facility to have on hand.

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