CRANBERRY TWP — Roughly 40 patients a month visit UPMC Passavant-Cranberry for a nuclear cardiac stress test.

But the hospital hopes to accommodate more visits with a new D-SPECT system that physicians say have numerous upsides for patient comfort, speed and imaging.

Unlike the hospital's previous cardiac camera, Passavant's D-SPECT camera gives patients the option to sit up during cardiac imaging, which Dr. Lydia Davis, medical director of the cardiac stress test lab and nuclear cardiac imaging at UPMC Passavant, said provides benefits for both patients and doctors.

With the older system, Davis said, the patient had to lie down and hold their arms above their head. That's uncomfortable, particularly during a roughly 15- to 20-minute scan, and can result in a suboptimal reading, she added.

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