Some Interesting Facts About Radiology

Do you ever wonder about diagnostic imaging?  More specifically, do you ever wonder about radiology? Let’s face it, the world of medicine, advanced medicine, were it not for diagnostic imaging modalities. MRI scans, CT scans, X-Rays, and many other tests are what help determine everything from complex conditions to ways in which to treat them. We know that radiation is a part of it but what do you know about radiology?

Radiology is defined as the science of dealing with X-Rays and other high energy radiation. Let’s look at some other radiology facts:

1. All modalities in radiology are given around the clock coverage.
2. Radiologists require work stations so that the work put into one image flows effectively from person to person.
3. Some forms of radiology are procedural.

Patients come and go at all hours of the day, if a patient is seen at an emergency room it is vital to have someone run the MRI scanner, or CT scanner, or X-Ray machine in order to find out what may be wrong with that patient. Imaging studies are almost always necessary. The workflow is a key to successful imaging practices and often times it means the reputation of the center, hospital, or facility.

Workflow goes beyond just getting an image, the radiologist has to be able to read it, know what he is looking at and have the certainty that everyone has done their jobs right. The tech has to do his/her job right while everyone else present from nurses to assistants have to know what they are doing at all times. Radiology is not just looking at X-Rays, sometimes there are procedures involved.

A radiology procedure will involve a minimally invasive procedure that will employ imaging. While the procedure does not sound like a life altering surgery, it may mean the difference between life and death to some patients, patients that may be on the cusp of dealing with complex conditions. Radiology has a big overall impact when it comes to playing a role in situations that we may face.

If you have any questions regarding diagnostic imaging procedures please feel free to give us a call. Our dedicated team of imaging professionals looks forward to answering your questions and aiding you in your imaging needs. 


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The Breast Cancer Screening Alternative

When you think of screening for breast cancer you tend to think of mammography, the gold standard. The great thing about mammography is the fact that most of the time it will discover tumors, it doesn’t matter if they are benign, malign, or what the stage is. The difficulty is in the density of the breast, the denser the breast tissue, the more difficult to detect a lesion. Part of the concern with this difficulty is that while the tumor will be discovered, there is a definite chance that the tumor itself will likely be at an advanced stage.

According to some, a possible solution is the breast MRI. The problem with the breast MRI is that it’s currently priced in a very high range. Part of the difficulty that a lot of patients have is the cost of certain procedures varies from area to area. Even with better coverage there is the concern of high biopsy rates. Still even with all of these concerns there is a belief that the breast MRI will become the gold standard for finding tumors.

While this idea may well be a serious possibility, it’s important to note that before the breast MRI becomes a gold standard in terms of advocacy, pricing has to change. Even after pricing has changed, it is crucial that people performing the breast MRI can prove through studies and patient history that the breast MRI is as effective as and more effective than the mammography.

In the end there is another concern that centers on the length of time that the mammography has been around in comparison to a breast MRI. The MRI has been around about twenty years less than the mammography. It will be interesting to see how heavily advocacy groups will try to monitor the breast MRI as compared to the mammography.

If you have any questions about diagnostic imaging procedures such as the MRI, or mammography please feel free to give us a call. Our team of dedicated and experienced imaging professionals here at Clermont Radiology looks forward to answering your questions and aiding you in all your diagnostic imaging needs.  

Evolution of diagnostic imaging

The X-Ray is the cornerstone of diagnostic imaging. Without the “wondrous” X-ray the world of diagnostic imaging is would not be where it is. With evolution allowing technology to move forward at a rapid pace, it’s easy to see how new technologies are revolutionizing the present and future of diagnostic imaging. The latest big possibility on the horizon is the use of 3D live introperative holography.

The technology allows the physician to go ahead and interact with the organ. The organ that was used was the heart, the imaging technology was used during 8 minimally invasive procedures. The technology allows the physician to use the scalpel and look at the organ prior to the procedure.

It was stated in the article published in medgadget.com that “Surgeons working on the heart in a minimally invasive fashion have to do quite a bit of interpolating and imagining of where their instruments are in relation to the anatomy and how that anatomy is different from that of other patients.” This only talks about the heart and surgery but the possibility for something far greater are already there.

The technology is new and the interesting thing is the implications that it may have on imaging in the future. There is a distinct possibility that the next step may well be holographic imaging. The ability to tell a patient what their prognosis is with an interactive hologram may be the next big thing in the market.

The cost of this type of technology may be huge when considering you are talking about a way to interact with an image. This kind of technology will certainly provide a new opening in the ever-expanding medical technology sector and provide new opportunities for everyone trying to get into the business.

It will be interesting to see if this makes the X-Ray an obsolete technology within the next few years. It will probably be a while before that happens if it actually does happen.