Technology The Covenant Health hospitals and other facilities have been first in the area - and sometimes first in the world - to pioneer new patient care treatments and technologies including: The world's first clinical use of TomoTherapy radiosurgery The area's first dry lithotripsy capability The area's first 64-slice Lightspeed® scanner The world's first photodynamic therapy treatment for Barrett's esophagus The area's first DaVinci® robotically-assisted surgery system East Tennessee's first Innova 4100® cardiac diagnostic technology The area's first neurosurgical interoperative monitoring The Southeast's first Cutting Balloon™ catheter tool The area's first successful implantation of the In Sync® cardiac resynchronization pacemaker One of the country's first two facilities using respiratory gating The region's first Vivid 7® echocardiography Knoxville's first Enteryx® procedure for chronic acid reflux The area's first 3-D sonography The area's first Innova 2000® all-digital cardiovascular imaging system One of the world's first ECAT ACCEL® PET scanners The area's first OxiFirst® fetal oxygen monitor The area's first mammotome-assisted core biopsy capability The region's first high-dose-rate brachytherapy The area's first directional coronary atherectomy The state's first psychiatric hospital to conduct court hearings via teleconferencing The area's first drug-eluting stent placement The first area physicians to use 3-D flat-panel bi-plane angiography The area's newest 3-T MRI Knoxville's first Stealth Treon® surgical navigation The most recent advances include a system-wide Picture Archiving Communications System (PACS) that stores digital imaging electronically and allows physicians to access them from any Covenant Health hospital or specialized care facility, or from their office or home computers; electronic clinical alerts for physicians and other caregivers; and systems for identifying possible drug interactions or allergies at point of entry.