Up to 40 patients a day will benefit from a new $1.7 million CT scanner at Bendigo hospital.

Health Minister Daniel Andrews said the new machine would enable Bendigo Health to do X-ray scans on about 7500 patients per year, an increase of 20 per cent on the 6,250 the old scanner treated per year, and would also provide surgeons and other specialists with a more accurate indication of illness or injury in patients.

“This is a state-of-the-art Computerised Tomography scanner, which is far more efficient than the old model previously in use at Bendigo,” he said.

“CT scanners are specialised X-ray devices used to obtain cross-sectional images of the body in patients with cancer, stroke and other vascular disease, infection diseases and acute abdominal and chest conditions, and after serious injury.

“The detail is used to produce three-dimensional images, which show what a surgeon would see during an operation.”

Mr Andrews said CT scanning had proven invaluable in pinpointing tumors and planning treatment with radiotherapy.

“Patients will be able to be processed much faster with the new equipment,” he said.

“The latest multi-slice technology improves examination speed significantly.”