If you're in relatively good shape but getting older, you might wonder what all that time on the couch eating potato chips has done to your heart.

That's exactly the type of patient Sierra Nevada Memorial Hospital had in mind when it started using its 64-slice scanner last year, in studies with 50 volunteers, to detect heart problems.

The scan is quick, noninvasive of the body and painless, according to Chris Braun, the hospital's director of it's Diagnostic Imaging Center. Patients simply lay down on the scanner, which takes multiple images of their heart.

"No patients have had any problems from the procedure," Braun said.

Previous scanners were too slow, and produced blurred images caused by the motion of the heartbeat, Braun said. About 70 patients have had their hearts scanned in recent months, mostly to look for plaque buildup in major heart arteries that can cause coronary artery disease.

"It fits into a diagnostic slot for those patients who are not sick but want to know if they should take medications or not for high cholesterol," said hospital radiologist Dr. Rob Crockett. "If you're not young but not old, you might want to do this.

"If your arteries are clean, you're OK, but if you have a lot of plaque, we can get right on it," Crockett said. "People can know what's happening in their heart."

There is some controversy surrounding CT scans of the heart, according to the Mayo Clinic. Not all doctors think they should be used to screen the public for heart disease as a rule, preferring other techniques.

Inside the scanning center, technician Ed Brantley takes the images and gets them ready for doctors.

"We can see the heart beating, we can look at different chambers and cardiac vessels," Brantley said. He can also freeze images for closer scrutiny and turn them in any direction to look at various angles.

The procedure takes about 10 to 15 minutes, Brantley said, and the actual heart scan takes only 10 seconds. The other major advantage is that the procedure is not invasive to the body.

"Typically, to get this same information, you'd be in the hospital with a catheter in your groin that goes up into your heart," Braun said.

"It allows us to do it from the outside and it gives us good detail," Crockett said.

The procedure gives patients a coronary calcium score, Braun said. High calcium scores in the heart are indicative of possible heart problems or any that are already there.

"It can be a good indicator for physicians to see how aggressive they can be to treat high cholesterol," Braun said.

"Screening is a wake-up call, Braun said. "You don't have to have chest pain to have oncoming heart problems."

Those at risk for coronary heart disease who may want to have a heart scan done include those who smoke, are overweight, physically inactive, or who have high blood pressure, high cholesterol or a history of heart disease in the family, Braun said.

Results are mailed to patients and their doctor within 48 hours of the procedure.

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To contact Senior Staff Writer Dave Moller, e-mail dmoller@theunion.com or call 477-4237.