People often leave a positive review after good service from a business. If they thought everything was priced well, they might even hop on Google to share how reasonable the final tally is. One review in St. Pete went a bit beyond the usual.
“TrueScan saved my life.”
That’s Dr. Sam Tony, a board-certified psychiatrist and neurologist, after a proactive full-body scan and coronary CTA with Heartflow at TrueScan discovered a significant blockage in one of his main coronary arteries. Within a week of the scan, he’d had a stent placed and the previously unknown threat had been taken care of.
“That was life-saving, in my opinion,” Tony said afterward.
Before the visit, Tony had no reason to think anything was wrong. As a physician himself, he was just a believer in the importance of proactive diagnostic work. Tony lives in St. Pete and he was looking for somewhere nearby to get a scan and make sure he was still in good health and would be around with his family and friends for years to come.
Through research, he found TrueScan, which opened 18 months ago as Tampa Bay’s first full-body MRI scan. After checking out the facility, the equipment and the professional staff, he chose them. A couple weeks and one unexpected test result later, he was thanking them with his life.
“Of course, at first, I was pretty alarmed,” Tony said, “but then I realized I needed to act. I called my cardiologist and got in to have the procedure done so quickly and recovered so quickly that it was almost as if nothing had ever happened.”
Dr. Sam Tony with loved ones
TrueScan detects issues early to begin preventive care
It was for people like Tony, and so many others, that TrueScan was founded. Located at 5015 4th Street North, TrueScan is Tampa Bay’s first and only full-body MRI center, scanning for more than 500 conditions in the time it takes to watch a couple episodes of your favorite sitcom (which you actually get to do during the scan). The driving ethos behind TrueScan is to help identify issues early, when they are most treatable, by providing patients with a full report in less than a week, including a doctor’s consultation to discuss the results and what they mean.
Since opening, TrueScan has supplemented the full-body scan with a Coronary CTA with HeartFlow AI analysis, both of which are non-invasive. The CTA generates a 3D model of your coronary arteries, revealing plaque composition (soft, low-attenuation, and calcified plaque), stenosis, and blood flow (FFRct). It’s literally a picture of your heart health, and Tony’s choice to have it done allowed him to still be here to tell his story.
Those who have experienced unexpected medical issues know how important early treatment can be. According to TrueScan, only 14% of cancer diagnoses come from regular screening, with the rest only being diagnosed once symptoms or complications have begun, when it is often too late. Their mission, through full-body screening, is to eliminate the other 86% and get people treatment early, when it is most effective.
One hour to save a life
As comprehensive as the scan is, the process is remarkably simple. The scan is fast (60 minutes), safe (no harmful radiation), and non-invasive (no contrast). In fact, before the scan begins, you get to choose from various streaming services what you’d like to watch on TV while the scan takes place. Patients are also given a private room to change before and after, as well as a secure place to store any belongings.
Following the scan, all patients receive their full report within seven days, while one of TrueScan’s highly-experienced physicians will reach out to schedule a complimentary consultation to review the report and answer any questions. The company has experts from a diverse array of medical fields on staff, able to provide expert knowledge and guidance in the instance there are any medical conditions discovered.
The scan can detect nearly all forms of cancer as early as Stage I, though the scan of course runs the gamut, assessing one’s body for a laundry list of potential medical issues. It can discover hundreds of other silent threats such as aneurysms and autoimmune conditions like multiple sclerosis.
Tony knows from his experience both as a physician and as a patient that it’s an hour-long experience capable of saving your life.
“As a physician, I truly believe that proactive diagnostic testing and scanning is vital to anyone’s health, especially as we get older,” he said. “Those scans were so important to me, as they should be to anyone, because they allow us to look at our health status proactively and to be proactive about things that we may not even be aware of.”
Plus, Tony pointed out, it’s easy and pain-free.
“Coming into the TrueScan diagnostic center, I was met with an immediate friendly and warm welcome,” he said. “I was made to feel as though this was sort of my second home. Everyone was very professional and very kind. Even the scan itself was done in such a way with such professional guidance that I felt at ease.
“I got the results within one week of the scans, then they scheduled a video call with a leading physician who works at the center. They answered all the questions I had and explained everything to me in such a way that it was clear, concise and understandable.”
A few days later, his blockage was fixed and his mind was at ease. All thanks to one hour at TrueScan.
For those interested in receiving a full-body scan, we recommend learning more at truescanmri.com, or reaching out to the TrueScan team directly:
Phone: 727-256-0095
Email: hello@truescanmri.com
Website: truescanmri.com
Address: 5015 4 th St N Suite B., St. Petersburg
Office Hours: Monday – Friday 8AM – 6PM, and Saturday 8AM – 4PM