Organization acquires cutting-edge imaging equipment
Space modifications are being made. Installations are taking place. And staff members are being trained. By summer’s end, patients at Chesapeake Regional Medical Center will have access to some of the latest and most advanced diagnostic technologies available.
After more than a year of planning and preparation, digital mammography, a breast MRI and 64-slice CT scan will soon become available at Chesapeake Regional, catapulting the organization into the world of cutting-edge imaging, noted Ken Shoff, director of Radiology.
Digital Mammography
“The new digital mammography images provide an amazing amount of clinical information as compared to the previous film/screen images,” he said. “And the 64-slice CT scanner is the only scanner of this type available in the region. We all feel extremely grateful that we have this new level of technology that we can offer to our patients.”
In May and June, four new digital mammography machines were installed at the Breast Center. The center is now fully converted to digital mammography. Radiographic film will no longer be used. The center is the only breast center in the area that is fully digital.
Digital mammography is more detailed than analog and is critical in detecting early stage breast lesions. This is especially true in women under 50-years-old, those who are premenopausal and women with dense breast tissue. The center offers both screening and diagnostic mammograms.
By the end of July, the Breast Center will also have a specially equipped breast MRI in place. MRI is a diagnostic procedure that uses a combination of large magnets, radio frequencies, and a computer to produce detailed images of organs and structures within the body. The Breast MRI is used in certain select clinical indications. The center is currently developing specific guidelines for when its use is appropriate.
Radiology department
In the hospital’s Radiology Department, a new 64-slice CT scanner has been installed. An advanced generation of scanner that provides 64-slice scans within seconds, the high-tech tool gives physicians the ability to quickly diagnose patients who come into the Emergency Department with chest pain.
With such a high resolution combined with a short scan time, the 64-slice CT allows visualization of the heart and coronary system within one breath. Its scans reveal blockages in blood vessels and other heart problems that are sometimes not easily detectable with other tests.
Rather than imaging slice-by-slice, this scanner takes one exposure through the area that we are imaging,” explained Shoff. “This allows the technologist to then go back and perform 3-D reformatting of that data to look at different body structures. Once the exam is complete, the data can be reconstructed to get different images without having to go back and rescan the patient. These images are extremely helpful in diagnosis.”
Unlike previous generation CT scanners, the 64-slice technology is not affected by implanted orthopedic hardware. Noted Shoff, “In previous scanners we would not get good imaging due to the scatter radiation that bounced off of metal implants. Now when we image that metal hardware, we can even see the turns on the metal screws.
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Chesapeake Regional Medical Center
736 Battlefield Blvd. North
Chesapeake, VA 23320
757-312-8121