You don’t have to keep wondering.
If you have been or are a heavy smoker, it can be hard to stop wondering about the impacts on your health. A CT lung cancer screening can help you stop all the wondering.
Lung cancer screenings find 80% of lung cancer at an early stage when it is most curable. Using advanced low-dose CT technology, the exam is a painless and non-invasive procedure that can detect lung cancer in its early stages. Our radiologists will review detailed 3D images of your lungs to enable them to detect any abnormalities at early, treatable stages, greatly improving survival rates.
We are proud to be an American College of Radiology-designated Lung Cancer Screening Center for Montana.
Is lung cancer screening right for you?
You should consider a lung cancer screening if:
- Your age is 50 – 77.
- You don’t have signs or symptoms of lung cancer (asymptomatic).
- You’re either a current smoker or have quit smoking within the last 15 years.
- You have a tobacco smoking history of at least 20 “pack years” (an average of one pack, 20 cigarettes, per day for 20 years).
- You get an order from your healthcare provider.
If you believe you may be a candidate for CT lung cancer screening, we encourage you to take these steps:
What to Expect
Let’s help you prepare.
We’re here to make your procedure as comfortable as possible. A little prep goes a long way in ensuring everything runs smoothly.
- Before your appointment, you can eat and drink as you normally would.
- Please arrive 15 minutes before your appointment, so we can check you in and prepare you for your scan.
- The technologist will position you, often lying flat on your back, on the exam table. You will be asked to raise your arms over your head. Then the table will move slowly through the machine as the CT scan is performed.
- While the machine is scanning, you’ll be asked to hold your breath for about 5 – 10 seconds at a time. This ensures that your lungs do not move, creating a clearer image.
- Most low-dose CT exams last 15 minutes, but the actual scanning takes about 2 minutes.
- After your appointment, the radiologist will look at the results, prepare a report that discusses anything unusual that showed up in the images and make recommendations for any follow-up care. The radiologist sends the report to the provider who referred you for the screening.