CT Decommissioning
End-of-life retirement of a multi-detector CT scanner — what comes out, what gets recycled, what gets resold, and what regulatory steps close the file. Diagnostic CT does not activate materials, so there is no cool-down waiting period — release is rapid relative to therapy or PET / CT.
Disposal items
- X-ray tube — lead-filled housing; hazmat (not household waste). Tube has meaningful refurb / resale value if scan-count is low and the model is current. Straton, Vectron, Gemstone Clarity, MegaCool, and Philips MRC tubes have active aftermarket demand.
- HV generator — transformer oil; older units may contain PCBs — test before disposal in jurisdictions with PCB regulation.
- Gantry — heavy steel + copper slip rings; recyclable. Slip-ring assemblies sometimes harvested for refurb.
- DAS / detector modules — high resale value where module-level swap markets exist (e.g., UFC / Stellar / Gemstone). Don't scrap without checking.
- Patient couch + control electronics — low hazard, recyclable.
- Workstation + console + reconstruction box — data erasure per HIPAA.
Data sanitization
- Every HDD and SSD on the scanner host, reconstruction engine, and console workstation is removed and either physically destroyed or certified-erased per HIPAA.
- PACS-linked patient data retention obligations (typically 7+ years per state law) must be satisfied via migration / archive before scanner removal.
- DICOM-stored studies on the modality cache are wiped; modality worklist credentials revoked.
Radiation safety + licensing
- CT does not activate materials. No cool-down, no residual activity. Release is administrative, not radiologic.
- State X-ray-machine registration amended or cancelled at decommissioning.
- Final shielding survey before vault repurposing — confirms no historical activation events (rare on diagnostic CT, but documented for the file).
- If the scanner was in PET / CT or SPECT / CT use, the isotope side has its own NRC / Agreement-State posture — see PET / CT decommissioning or Nuclear Medicine decommissioning.
Resale and parts recovery
Component-level disassembly recovers more value than scrapping:
- Tube — primary line item; current-generation tubes can recover meaningful capital depending on scan-count history.
- DAS / detector — module-level resale exists for premium platforms.
- HV generator + cabinetry — lower per-unit value but mature aftermarket.
- Gantry mechanicals — primarily scrap, with occasional rebuild use.
Refurb / parts recovery economics typically favor early engagement with a medical-equipment recycler before disassembly.
Site readiness
- Power, chiller water, HVAC — capacity is usually retained for the next scanner.
- Lead-shielded room — typically reused; shielding-survey-of-record is the documentation handoff.
- Cable plant + PACS / RIS connectivity — generally reused; document modality AE titles and IPs at decommissioning.