MIDDLESBROUGH FC player Gianluca Festa was guest of honour as a hospital unveiled a new £415,000 scanner yesterday.
The CT scanner is a specialised piece of x-ray equipment used to produce cross-sectional images of parts of the body.
Darlington Memorial Hospital's new Siemens scanner provides more detailed information to assist the consultant radiologists with diagnosis.
The procedure is much quicker, which makes it less demanding for patients and will help to reduce waiting times.
Head of radiography Ingrid Walker said: "The new CT scanner will greatly improve our diagnostic capabilities.
"The examinations are very fast and they will provide us with higher quality information, which can be manipulated to produce more detailed images.
"This will improve accuracy and patient comfort."
Mr Festa said: "I am delighted to have been invited to officially open this important new equipment."
The equipment was funded by the Department of Health and replaces the hospital's nine-year-old scanner.
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