Canon Aquilion ONE CT Financing

Volume CT is a different category from slice-count CT, and the Canon Aquilion ONE sits at the top of it. A single rotation captures 16 cm of anatomy with 320 rows of 0.5 mm detectors, which means the heart, brain, or organ of interest is imaged in one heartbeat without table movement. The clinical protocols that benefit from this, cardiac CT, CT perfusion for stroke, and dynamic organ studies, command higher reimbursement and drive differentiated referral patterns. Financing this system is a conversation about what those protocols are worth to your program, not just about what the machine costs.

We finance the Aquilion ONE for hospital radiology and cardiology programs, academic centers running perfusion and advanced cardiac CT protocols, and freestanding imaging programs that have built the cardiac CT referral base to justify the volume imaging capability. The transaction is at the premium end of the CT market, and our underwriting process for deals of this scale reflects that with full financial review and tailored term structures.

What the Aquilion ONE Enables Clinically and Financially

The original Aquilion ONE introduced 320-detector-row volume CT, and subsequent generations have maintained that architecture while adding iterative reconstruction, improved temporal resolution, and dose reduction capabilities. The system's ability to image the entire heart in a single rotation without prospective ECG gating variations makes it particularly useful for patients with irregular heart rhythms, a population that creates challenges on lower-detector-count cardiac CT protocols.

For cardiology practices running coronary CTA programs, the Aquilion ONE's motion-freeze temporal resolution allows reliable coronary visualization at higher heart rates than many competing platforms. That clinical breadth translates to a wider referred population and higher daily exam counts, which is the variable that matters most when projecting whether the monthly payment stays inside the revenue margin.

CT perfusion for stroke triage is another high-value application. Comprehensive stroke centers using the Aquilion ONE for perfusion CT can acquire whole-brain perfusion data in a single rotation, eliminating the shuttle movement that introduces artifact in some alternative approaches. Hospitals with active stroke programs have real revenue and quality-of-care arguments for this capability that support the financing conversation concretely.

The 320-detector architecture also enables 320-slice equivalent protocols for dynamic organ perfusion studies, including hepatic and pancreatic perfusion, which have growing clinical and research applications at academic centers.

Structuring Finance at the Premium Level

A new Aquilion ONE with installation is a multi-million-dollar acquisition. Pre-owned units from hospital upgrades trade at substantial discounts to new, but still represent significant capital outlays. Either way, the financing structure needs to respect the magnitude of the monthly obligation relative to the projected study revenue from the cardiac and perfusion protocols that justify the system.

We typically model the financing over 60 to 84 months for systems at this price level. A longer term reduces the monthly payment but increases total cost of capital; the right choice depends on the program's revenue ramp timeline and cash position in the first year of operation. The equipment finance agreement is common at this level because it establishes ownership from day one and makes the full cost depreciable under applicable tax rules. The capital lease achieves a similar economic result with lease accounting treatment during the term.

For hospital programs operating under health system financing, we coordinate with the system's treasury or capital planning functions. Bond-financed health systems sometimes have specific requirements around equipment financing structures that we accommodate in the deal documentation.

Leveraging an Existing Aquilion ONE

Programs that own an Aquilion ONE outright or have substantial equity in one have productive options. A cash-out equipment refinance can pull working capital from the asset while leaving the system in clinical operation. For a program that wants to fund a parallel acquisition, upgrade a second CT suite, or cover a major construction project without a separate capital raise, this path avoids diluting the acquisition's revenue impact.

A Sale-Leaseback Financing achieves a similar outcome with a different accounting treatment: the lender purchases the system and leases it back at a predetermined monthly rate. The program continues using the scanner without interruption while freeing the capital that was previously locked in the asset. On a system with the Aquilion ONE's market value, the capital released through a leaseback can be material relative to most programs' operating reserves.

Finance Your Aquilion ONE Program

Share the acquisition details, your current and projected cardiac CT volume, and your organization's financial structure. We will build a term sheet designed around the Aquilion ONE's revenue profile at your specific scan volume, not a generic equipment finance proposal. Programs that run the math clearly before the purchase close make better financing decisions. Start that conversation with us.