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Archive for the ‘Radiology’ Category

People with back pain/problems can now skip an MRI Scan, and save the MRI Cost, a study report

MRI machine

In pain clinics, steroid shots are quite common for patients with back-pain; about the MRI cost back scans, with contrast-agent – the rates are high; in care-units, physicians routinely order an MRI scan, prior the therapy.

An MRI scanner uses powerful magnets for more detailed images, for internal anatomy and physiology; and therefore the MRI machine costs are high; would vary from one supplier to the other, per different product attributes; and, similarly for the procedures, about MRI cost brain scans, back, knee, or more – it would vary for, with and without contrast-enhanced procedures.

And, if you go through world-wide statistics, you would realize, be it MRI scan cost in US, and/or other countries, the figures may not be that pocket-friendly, for the patients; Dr. Steven Cohen (Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine) says, $1,500 each for the scans is not justified, and not necessary when the imaging offers a little chance to avoid a procedure (citing steroid injections from the doctors for back-pain patients), lessen complexities, or ameliorate outcomes.

Of the study results (led by Dr. Steven Cohen), the research team found that about 132 patients that have had an MRI before were being given steroid injections, by doctors, without even clarifying the test-results.

He added further that, by skipping the procedure (in advance), it could save patients significant MRI cost, and time; please refer the Archives of Internal Medicine, for more studies and observations of Dr. Steven Cohen in patients with sciatica and other.

We understand, the higher MRI cost for back, knee or brain scan definitely is a matter of concern for many out there; but then, the non-invasive imaging approach is safer than other imaging methods (X-ray, CT etc.) that use ionizing radiation.

It is like, ‘too-much’ of unneeded examinations (any) always add-up to medical bills, and that should be avoided, by the doctors.

So, be it MRI cost knee, brain, back or other: for the procedures, or information about new and refurbished equipment providers, MRI Machine Costs - people of the healthcare community can always be of good help, and you can join the MedicExchange community, for more knowledge and information.

The tremendous scope the non-invasive MRI technology has, is not new to any; let us take a quick peek, again, but then, for more detailed versions, in the coming year!

MRI Scanner

For people in the healthcare sector, the term MRI Scans or MRI Scanning (Magnetic Resonance Imaging scan) is not at all new; when the healthcare sector is growing like anything, with new booming technologies, for care and treatment, MRI screening definitely is preferred more than others of the slot (CT, X-Ray), to keep patients away from ionizing radiation effects.

And then, those who joined late, about the technology (during MRI screening), nuclear magnetic resonance/reverberations are being used to create two-dimensional/three-dimensional proton-density images, to visualize internal body structures, viz. muscles, bones, organs etc.

Well, we all know the power of magnet, and then superconducting magnets in MRI scanners are quite common, for various medical applications; gone are the days, when without knowing the main cause of diseases in people, the treatments were used to be given, and the results then were increased death rate; but, with the emerging need of the market, and with the upsurge of imaging technology, various medical imaging approaches in Radiology definitely have given a sign of hope for the patients, for early detection of disorders/diseases that patients are being affected with.

Be it human anatomy, or physiology, the non-invasive MRI scanning definitely helps; whether an MRI scan head/brain, knee, or MRI scan breast – everything is safe with/for a patient, with ‘no-ionizing’ radiations, involved.

Yes, be it for a complex human brain anatomy, ultra-high field MRI scan is always there, for subtle brain details; MRI scan brain – is common for patients with the following – dizziness, hearing loss, headaches etc.

And then, about MRI scan knee – for knee pain/osteoarthritis, joint injuries, and more; but, then, prior any MRI scan, you definitely will be checked for electronic devices/implants and other ferromagnetic devices, due to the super-conducting magnets, and associated electronic-magnetic fields.

The topic about magnetic resonance imaging MRI Scan Technology can never end, as we know well about the scope the domain has, in the healthcare sector.

So, stay tuned for more on MRI scans, and everything related with the magnetic resonance imaging technology!

…where non-enhanced CT missed to confidently characterize many of the cancerous tumors, cost-effective CEUS (contrast-enhanced ultrasound scan) came out as a winner, for real-time patient diagnoses at the bedside: a research study!

(Courtesy: Dr. Stephanie Wilson, Professor of Radiology at the University of Calgary, and Practicing Radiologist at Foothills Medical Center in Calgary)

“Lower cost (than other imaging modalities), lack of ionizing radiation, diagnostic precision are some of the attributes that make CEUS distinct…!”

Contrast-enhanced sonography_hemangioma

Patients with abdominal cancer can breathe a sigh of relief, as contrast-enhanced ultrasound scan (CEUS), with no high-energy radiation (being involved) is here to help them getting diagnosed through it.

Yes, CEUS is cost effective than other imaging modalities for early cancer detection, as the technology does not involve ionizing radiation, and is safe on patients; the contrast agent involved in CEUS gets expelled out of the body, few minutes after the examination, and is safe on kidney patients, as well.

Research authors believe, this tool will replace some of computed tomography procedures, allowing radiologists to precisely diagnose cancer/tumor in patients, without exposing them to harmful radiation.

More and more patients are exposed every now and then to ionizing radiation, through varied examinations (radiology/nuclear medicine), where exposure to these increase their lifetime risk of cancer.

Contrast agents are not recommended for kidney patients, as they can not tolerate it; non-enhanced CT (without contrast agents) for such patients would not yield desired results that the technology is famed of providing ‘with contrast agents’.

CT scan without contrast agents may miss to provide enough (coveted) results in detection of cancerous tumors, especially of kidney/liver – for clearly-defined diagnosis, and this was even validated by research authors through various examination results of patients.

One of the patients with severe flank pain (high creatinine) that could not endure CT contrast agent had to undergo the non-enhanced process/technique, which showed “spontaneous retroperitoneal hematoma”; on the other, CEUS demonstrated the patient with – “aggressive infiltrative kidney cancer”.

Similarly, there were many cases (examinations), where non-enhanced CT failed to diagnose patients properly, but every time CEUS did it nicely…!

The research author (Dr. Wilson) said, CEUS is an excellent tool for variety of cancers – benign and malignant: liver, bladder, kidney, spleen, bowel etc.!

CEUS is secure and cost-effective option than other imaging modalities, for equivalent results, if not beyond…; the technology is approved for specific types of cardiac imaging in the United States; but is commonly used for various disorders (inclusive of cancer/tumor) in some of these countries, viz. Asia, Brazil, Canada, Europe etc.!

For more details about CEUS, and other blogs and stories – stay connected with MedicExchange!

Shortage of radiologists – 24x7x365 for image interpretation and consultation should no longer remain a matter of concern for you, were you apprehensive about it by any means; yes, companies involved in Teleradiology services are here to help you out on issues you have been having, so far.

Teleradiology

Everything is time-bound in a healthcare scenario; if patients are not addressed in a timely manner (talking about – medical intervention), chances are – their condition may worsen, and they may die, or on the other – they may switch over to other care providers, accessible to them, at an instant.

“Nobody is here to wait for anything, please mind it – so value time of your patients! Every satisfied patient is worth a million dollar, for your healthcare business!”

Now, let’s get back to square one, where we were before; yes, if you have been looking for Teleradiology providers, for quite long – you are at the right place; companies/service providers involved with us will provide you highly personalized service (Teleradiology) you have been looking for.

No matter, whether day or night, holidays or weekends – you can have customized solutions for your care unit from them to address your patients in a better and timely manner, like never before.

Certified and accredited radiologists will be available to you throughout for real-time image/data consultation; they will help you improve productivity/efficiency to better patient care and treatment.

Seek them for preliminary/final image data interpretation and instant (standardized) radiology reports; whether on/off working hour – manage your patients, any time you feel like.

MedicExchange is here to help you find right type of company for Teleradiology service; go for board-certified radiologists for quick and precise image reading/interpretation and consultation, for timely medical intervention, to better health outcomes.

Stay connected for details about companies for Teleradiology services, you are here for!

PET scan is feasible for medical prognosis in patients with inoperable lung cancer that have most aggressive tumors: a study report

(Courtesy: Mitch Machtay, MD, of the Seidman Cancer Center at University Hospitals)

PET scan_lung cancer

Physicians can now easily determine patients that require specific cancer treatment, to manage their medical condition. Lung cancer is one of the prime cause of deaths in the United States.

Unlike other imaging methods (computed tomography etc.) for detailed body structure, a PET scan brings out physiologic processes in organs; chemical activity and metabolic changes in cancer cells can be observed through PET scan; regions of greater intensity through scan let care providers find/locate the disease easily.

Through the technology, care providers can customize treatment for patients with advanced lung cancers, in a better way; the study encompassed patients with stage III lung cancer that had PET scans, before, and after combined treatment course of radiotherapy and chemotherapy.

In comparison to normal cells, cancerous cells absorb sugar molecules at a higher rate, and show up clearly on PET scans; researchers evaluated FDG (radioactive sugar molecule) uptake in cancer, i.e. how swiftly the tumors absorb radioactive sugar molecules.

Researchers found that patients with higher level of FDG uptake in post treatment scan had more aggressive tumors with likelihood of recurrence. The recurrence rate of cancer was estimated to be more in patients with higher FDG uptake rates than the standard uptake value; such patients usually have lower survival rate than others.

For more details about the thread, and other blogs and stories, stay connected with MedicExchange!

Patients with implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) and/or cardiac pacemakers should no longer worry going for MR imaging, for various medical conditions that they have: a study report

The study overruled following concerns: movement of device inside the body (due to MRI electromagnetic radiation/waves); device heating up, and affecting/burning tissues; device malfunctioning etc.!

Cardiac pacemaker

With specific procedures require to be followed – patients with newly implanted cardiac devices can definitely undergo MR imaging (securely), for cancer and other disorders/irregularities. (Courtesy: Johns Hopkins University)

Defibrillators help to restore normal rhythm of the heart, during fibrillation of heart muscles; on the other, the battery-powered cardiac pacemaker, embed under skin provides normal heartbeat (timed electrical pulses) stimulating the muscle, during specific heart conditions.

For specific MRI procedures – pacemakers produced in 1999 (or later), and defibrillator in 2000 (or later), with cardiologist and other skilled professionals to program the device, to make it MRI-safe, and observe the heart rhythm during the scan, will do!

Of various patients (with implanted cardiac devices – either cardiac pacemaker or defibrillator) that were studied by, no significant issues were reported after they have had MRI done (except for less than 1% of subjects).

Researchers did both during MRI examination: turned the device off, and turned down the sensitivity of the equipment to electromagnetic fields; study authors found the device being set again (reset to default settings), and/but this did not cause harm to any of the patients with implanted cardiac devices that were scanned through.

No patient was required cardiac device replacement, as the devices were re-programmed after the process (MRI) was successfully done on all of them.

Experts say, during an MRI, the study required skilled nurse and Electro-physiologists to tackle any emergency, and due to extra resources required for it, not all care facilities would be able to manage the process (MR imaging) on patients with implanted cardiac devices.

Heart devices compatible with MRI (nowadays) are widely available from various manufacturers; stay tuned with MedicExchange for details about companies/vendors with MRI-safe cardiac devices, and other related!

Everything has a downside to it, and medical imaging has turned out to be one for many; yes, computed tomography and other related imaging techniques (that involve ionizing radiation), it seems are doing more harm than good!

CT scan

More and more patients, every now and then are made to go through a CT scan, even though they are healthy; it has become common scenario in most of the parts, and who is getting affected the most – of course, patients!

Every technology is ‘there’ to assist human, but we are not using it the right way, for right kind of things; computed tomography is feasible for a variety of medical conditions – detailed images of body organs/body parts are possible through it, during examination; but too-much of this, without any proper reason on a patient will never do good to them.

Repeat/unnecessary examinations in any such will only show adverse outcomes in patients; a CT scan equipment delivers ionizing radiation (dose) more than that of any standard x-ray machine, and if a patient is exposed to more of CT examinations, we can plainly imagine – what all could happen (badly) to a patient.

Increased risk of cancer, skin burns, hair-loss are some of the possibilities in patients, in the long-run, with high-dose radiation exposure, every now and then.

Medical experts/consultants across the globe suggest ‘not to overdo things, in any manner’, as if a patient is healthy (not ill), they should be kept away from unnecessary examinations – SPARE THE HEALTHY; if they are once examined over, through an imaging device, then that result should be taken note of, rather passing patients all over for repeat examination, and/or any such.

They insist – age, body of patients require to be considered, while giving certain amount of radiation dose to them; not all patients (differently sized, age…) should be given equal treatment (radiation), when their body does not require that much, at the first place; proper STANDARD/PROTOCOL should be put in practice, for such!

Doctors/care providers can always opt for other imaging modalities/alternatives (than CT) to diagnose their patients, to limit them to unnecessary exposure to ionizing radiation, viz. Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Ultrasound etc.!

Yes, patients and doctors should always talk in length about various options (imaging modalities) that they can opt for any of the medical conditions the patient is affected with; more personalized approach should always be maintained, for better treatment approach.

“Every technology is good, if only we learn to use it effectively on people that really need it…!”

Stay tuned with MedicExchange for blogs/articles, and other healthcare industry news!

High-energy (form of) radiation is quite common in diagnostic/medical imaging; yes, in care settings it is used for a wide range of medical applications, viz. to image different regions in the body, for cancer therapy, and other related.

Medical X ray machine

Some of these modalities/devices use ionizing radiation for varied imaging and therapeutic approaches: standard X-ray/radiography, computed tomography, fluoroscopy, to name a few!

In case of computed tomography, body organs/parts are examined over, by getting scanned through X-ray for disorders/irregularities; a computer unit is used for cross sectional image (slices) construction, for detailed image interpretation and analysis.

On the other, in fluoroscopy (imaging method), real-time moving images/video of internal body structures are captured through a fluoroscope.

For patients with cancer/tumor, ionizing radiation is utilized for the therapeutic approach; cancerous cells can be destroyed through focused X-ray beams, from an imaging device!

All these (stated above) devices that involve ionizing radiation are beneficial for a variety of disorders/irregularities in patients, but more exposure to such every now and then can be fatal for individuals, in the long run.

The use of computed tomography, and other standard X-ray approaches have increased dramatically, for this and that; repeat exposure, and higher doses at times can have adverse side effects in patients, with some of the following – hair loss, skin burn/damage etc.!

Patients should be kept away from unnecessary examinations, the most possible; as this will limit them getting exposed more to such radiations, and they can have better quality of life.

Stay tuned with MedicExchange for blogs, news and stories from the healthcare/medical sector!

Do you lack enough radiologists at your care facility for timely image/data reading and interpretation? If yes, then Teleradiology service providers (24x7x365 available to you) can help you out with it!

Teleradiology service

You can seek help from certified and accredited radiologists (situated at remote location) for all preliminary and final radiology image/data interpretation; time is precious, and real-time data at point-of-care is the requirement of this hour, and you can definitely rely on Teleradiology service providers for instant reports on all radiology images/data.

Be committed to your patients for better care and therapy, even during off working hours, or when you are devoid of ENOUGH radiology staff to accommodate timely requirement, at any phase in time.

If you have been having issues with well-timed radiology data interpretation, reading and consultation, then you can always opt for Teleradiology services, for highest quality, standardized reports, for better decision support, and improved medical interventions.

No need to over-strain your medical office staff at the hospital, any more, as you can address your patients throughout the clock (see the clock is ticking), by opting for Teleradiology service; do not delay, and go for off-site services, to improve patient throughput.

Get to have timely and precise radiology image reading/interpretation and consultation from certified radiologists (Teleradiology), to address all urgent/emergency medical cases, and other related at your care setting.

For more details about various Teleradiology Services (companies/service providers) – stay connected with MedicExchange!

Go for PACS, and have easy and convenient access to medical images/data from various imaging modalities…!

PACS

The imaging technology PACS (Picture Archiving and Communication System) facilitates for effective storage, easy retrieval/recovery of medical images from varied imaging modalities (viz. CT, MRI, Ultrasound etc.); digital data (images/reports) can be electronically transferred from one location to the other, for easy access.

Gone are the days of old and traditional way of managing images on films; everything is digital here, as radiology studies are managed in PACS systems! The imaging standard DICOM is used for image storage and transfer, and we know about it!

Real-time data at point-of-care is the requirement of ‘this hour’, for immediate medical interventions; can you achieve this with films and hard-copies?

PACS system is in great demand for off-site reporting and viewing (medical images/data); doctors/care providers at various locations can have remote access to radiology data, for image interpretation and consultation.

Digital files are easy to be maintained, as do not require higher cost to manage it, in comparison to traditional films (for data storage); web-based PACS are common among care units, as data is easily communicated, and can have access to through Internet (virtual private network/secure sockets layer).

If you are concerned about higher cost of PACS system, then web-based PACS (HIPAA compliant) is a feasible option for you for digital image/data management.

Stay tuned with MedicExchange for web based PACS systems, and other related, to benefit from.