WH Internet - $5 million medical imaging boost great news for people in the West.

The new medical equipment includes a 64 Slice CT Scanner, 3-Tesla MRI machine, Digital Mammography Unit and mobile technology and a high-tech general digital x-ray system.

"Families in Melbourne's west have greater access to cutting edge technology that helps diagnose life-threatening diseases like cardiovascular disease and cancer, thanks to a new $5 million medical imaging suite at Sunshine Hospital," Mr Andrews said.

"These high-performance imaging systems are playing an important role to help doctors diagnose and treat the growing number of people in the western suburbs with common life threatening conditions, such as cardiovascular disease and cancer.

"The latest digital technology including a general digital x-ray system and the revolutionary digital mobile technology is used to examine patients in a ward or ICU and enables outstanding image quality at low dose and provides the physician with the answer required at bedside."

The 64-slice CT scanner is a specialised x-ray device used to obtain cross-sectional images of the body in patients with cancer, stroke and other vascular diseases, infectious diseases and acute abdominal and thoracic conditions.

The Digital Mammography Unit provides state-of-the-art diagnosis for patients at risk of breast cancer and the reduction in time between diagnosis and treatment improved the patient's chance of beating their cancer.

"If a lump is detected a patient can have it further examined via ultrasound and find out immediately whether it is cancerous or not, reducing the stress previously experienced while patients wait for test results," Mr Andrews said.

"Images are captured using a revolutionary new detector technology and mammography images can be displayed on a computer monitor, allowing real time and remote viewing for physicians."

"The system the system is also capable of accurately guiding physicians to breast lesions, allowing accurate localisations to within millimetre," he said.

Mr Andrews said a $4.5 million state-of-the-art MRI machine, funded in the 2007-08 State Budget, was also providing patients with top-quality services in the new imaging suite.

"The MRI is used to detect a range of diseases such as tumours, spinal, joint and soft tissue injury, and injuries to internal organs including the brain, heart and digestive organs," he said.