Understanding Diagnostic Imaging: The CT Scan

Lightspeed 16 Understanding Diagnostic Imaging The CT Scan
Today, the ease with which modern medicine diagnoses illnesses and injuries is almost taken for granted. It seems as though there’s almost nothing that cannot be discovered, diagnosed and treated.

It wasn’t always that way.

One of the most important developments in modern medicine was harnessing the power of X-rays to peer inside the human body. Before 1895, when X-rays were first used in medicine, physicians relied almost entirely upon the physical exam, their own knowledge and a little bit of luck to diagnose broken bones, tumors and even gunshot wounds.

Today, physicians still use their knowledge and expertise ? but those aren’t the only tools available to them. Modern imaging techniques allow physicians to see inside the brain, lungs, heart, abdomen, joints, spine ? just about every body structure. We have technology not just to see organs, but to see them at work.

One of the most powerful tools in the medical imaging arsenal is computed axial tomography, also known as CAT scan or CT scan. The CT scan is a relatively new technology, that uses X-rays along with computer technology to produce high-definition, detailed images of the soft tissues of the body. Its primary uses are in imaging the brain, lungs, pulmonary arteries, spine, and joints.

British engineer Godfrey Hounsfield and South African physicist Allan Cormack invented CT scan technology, in 1972, with a research budget of just $40,000. The very first scan took nine days to complete and used gamma radiation. The scan involved 160 passes around the object, one degree at a time. The computed part of the scan took several additional days to complete.

By using x-rays rather than gamma rays, the pair were able to reduce scan times significantly (to nine hours). By 1974, the technology was ready for medical application. These first scanners could only be used on the head and brain. In 1976, CT scanners were able to scan larger body parts, including the chest.

Fortunately, scanning and computer technology have improved vastly since CT technology was first introduced. Today, a chest CT takes just a matter of seconds, and results are available almost immediately.

Hounsfield and Cormack won the Nobel Prize for Medicine and Physiology with their medical innovation. Just as importantly, physicians gained access to a powerful new tool that has dramatically improved the ability to diagnose, treat and monitor disease. There are about 6,000 CT scanners in the U.S. today, with more than 72 million CTs performed annually.

CT scanning technology has helped patients by reducing uncertainty, trial-by-error and the need for exploratory surgery. One of the most exciting developments in CT scan technology is its use as a screening tool for lung cancer. It is the first, and only, screening that has been recognized by the U.S. Preventative Services Task Force as highly effective. Lexington Diagnostic Center has led the region in offering the service for more than 10 years.

CT scanning technology really revolutionized medicine, said radiologist Jason Harris, M.D., medical director/owner of Lexington Diagnostic Center. ?But as with everything we do in medicine, there are potential risks, he noted. Among these is that CT scans expose patients to ionizing radiation, roughly equivalent to that of 200 chest x-rays. As powerful as this technology is, a patient should have a CT scan only when it is really necessary, he noted.

To further ensure safety, patients should verify that any facility where they might receive testing follows the strictest protocols for safety and is accredited by an independent accreditation organization. Accreditation is the public’s assurance that the center meets or exceeds accepted safety standards including ALARA standards (As Low As Reasonably Achievable). Lexington Diagnostic Center is accredited by the Intersocietal Accreditation Commission for CT services.

CTs, MRIs Without the Expense, with All the Comforts of Family

Lexington Diagnostic Dr. Jason HarrisWhen something mysterious or unknown is happening with your health, it’s entirely natural to be worried. You want to know, as soon as possible, what’s going on, if it can be fixed, how long it will take to get better, and how much it will cost.

Often, diagnostic testing will be ordered: A CT scan, an MRI, or an ultrasound to diagnose and, on occasion, follow-up exams to evaluate treatment. Lexington Diagnostic Center and Open MRI specializes in diagnostic imaging and anxiety reduction. That’s because imaging exams at LDC are considerably less expensive than the hospital. And, LDC patients always know up front what testing is going to cost. There are no hidden fees or surprise bills that arrive weeks or months later.

Price transparency is one part of Lexington Diagnostic Center’s tradition of treating patients like family.

We are such a family here at Lexington Diagnostic Center, said radiologist Jason Harris, M.D., who joined the center in 2012. We have the best trained team, a strong commitment to quality, and a tremendous focus on doing the right thing for our patients, he said.

His commitment to the LDC family is so strong, in fact, that he recently purchased the facility the only locally owned imaging facility in Lexington from retiring founder George Privett, M.D.

Being a part of Lexington Diagnostic Center allows Dr. Harris to do what he loves most: Make a difference in peoples lives. Every morning, when I come to work, before I start, I spend a few minutes thinking about what I am doing. With each study I read, I remind myself this study represents a person, somebody with a life and a family.

I try to think of each one as a member of my family, as someone I know. Thinking this way motivates me to give it my absolute best each time, he said.

The desire to give his best to his patients led Dr. Harris to study radiology at two of the best radiology programs in the United States. His radiology residency was completed at the University of Cincinnati, a world-renown center for neuroradiology. Following five years of residency at UC, Dr. Harris did a fellowship in musculoskeletal radiology at the Medical College of Virginia/Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Va.

Doing the fellowship required a lot of sacrifice, Dr. Harris said, but I absolutely feel it was worth it. Having that additional training and experience has enhanced my practice immensely. It allows me to offer more and higher quality care to patients here at the Center. The fellowship focused on diagnosing and treating conditions affecting the bones, joints, connective tissues, muscles and spine, including image-guided biopsies and joint injections.

Because of this additional training, Dr. Harris sometimes finds himself performing joint injections and other treatments. This direct interaction is something he enjoys. Every doctor in practice today woke up one morning and said to themselves, I want to be a doctor, I want to help people, he noted. That is, ultimately, what medicine is all about.

As Lexington Diagnostic Center’s new owner, Dr. Harris is committed to carrying on the center’s tradition of helping people by providing the highest level of quality and service, saving them money on their exams.

It’s an important point. Medical costs continue to rise and hospital-based services have grown even more expensive. As a result, free-standing, independent facilities like Lexington Diagnostic Center have a larger role to play in providing patients with affordable, high-quality services. LDC can save patients money because all they do is imaging. There is no hospital overhead laundry, meal services, ER team, administration.

Those additional expenses force hospitals to charge up to six times as much for the same exam. Because patients are often responsible for 20 to 50 percent of allowed charges, this often results in more cost for the patient.

We don’t do everything a hospital does. We do imaging. And we do it well. And we save patients money, Dr. Harris said.

So Your Child Needs An MRI. Now What?

When a doctor recommends an MRI or CT scan for your child, your mind races with a million questions: Is it safe? What?s wrong?

Will it help diagnose the problem? Do they know how to take care of a child having an MRI? Will it hurt? Will she be scared? What can I do to make him feel more comfortable? What if she can?t hold still for the test? What if he freaks out? What if I freak out?

It’s normal to be concerned, but the first thing you need to do is to relax yourself! Remember, kids are like little sponges; they soak up the tension, concern and worry exuded by parents and caregivers and squeeze it out as the time for the test or procedure grows near.

Across the U.S., people of all ages undergo MRIs and other medical imaging procedures every day. Sure there are precautions that must be taken, but the healthcare professionals who will perform the tests are just that professionals. They have received extensive and ongoing training in caring for both children and adults, and they and put that training into practice every day!

If there’s time, and there usually is, it’s best to talk to your child about the exam and what it will entail, said Karen Sykes, a nurse at Lexington Diagnostic Center and Open MRI. Sykes works directly with children undergoing diagnostic imaging, and their parents, to ensure they have the most comfortable experience possible.

There are a variety of ways to talk to your child about an MRI or CT, Sykes said. For younger kids, parents may compare the experience to getting a photograph taken. It’s something they are all familiar with (think smart phone cameras and selfies) and so it’s no big deal.

Kids who are especially inquisitive may want to know about the kind of camera being used and how it can take pictures of things inside your body. Showing them MRI and CT images online can help them understand and most kids are excited to learn that they will leave Lexington Diagnostic Center with a disk of their images they can view at home!

Older children may want to know about the science of an MRI or a CT. For them, you may want to do a little research so you can answer basic questions. I recommend parents do some online research, Sykes said. There are videos available that show pediatric MRIs and teaches kids what will happen during the test. Familiarity will be reassuring to children. YouTube has both live action and animated videos.

Reassure your child that the people who will be taking care of them will do their very best for them. At Lexington Diagnostic Center, a parent or loved one may sit or stand beside the MRI machine so the child never feels alone in the exam room.

During the actual exam, the technologist may ask the child to play a little game that will help them to hold very still. The child may be asked to pretend they are in a rocket ship taking off for the moon; or are a statue in the park; or even frozen. The games are designed to help the child hold still during the active scan period.

Depending on the test, you may be able to accompany the child into the scan room during the procedure. Kids can choose their own music during the scan and younger ones may be able to take a favorite blanket into the scanner with them. All kids having a scan at Lexington Diagnostic Center receive a stuffed animal to take home after the test.

A lot of parents ask about open MRI for their kids, Sykes said, but this equipment may not be the best choice it requires children to hold still for much longer periods of time, Sykes noted. Parents ask about open MRI because they may be a little claustrophobic themselves, she said, but it’s important to remember there’s a lot more room in an MRI machine when you’re a 50-pound child than when you are 200-pound adult male. Claustrophobia may not even be a problem.

The vast majority of the time, we can get a scan done for a child when no one else has been able to, Sykes said, because we work very hard to help the child and parent feel comfortable and at ease. Our facility isn’t as scary as a hospital and we certainly take the time to work with them one-to-one, she noted. We treat every patient with warmth and compassion and we are especially skilled at working with patients and children with special needs, including infants, children, the elderly and those with developmental disabilities.

If your child is scheduled to have an MRI, CT scan, ultrasound, nuclear medicine or even a general X-ray, give Lexington Diagnostic Center a call at (859) 278-7226 Or call toll free 800-755-7441 to learn more about our child and family-friendly services. You’ll be glad you did.

Meet Nurse Karen Sykes
Karen Sykes, a licensed practical nurse, is originally from Elkhorn City deep in the mountains of Eastern Kentucky.

She returned to the mountains after attending school at Eastern Kentucky University. It was at this time that she found her life’s work: nursing. Sykes graduated from the nursing program at Mayo Tech in 1982. During her career, she has worked in all areas of nursing, including pediatrics, cardiac, geriatrics, critical care, neurology, IV therapy and emergency services.

Sykes came to Lexington Diagnostic Center in 1999 to help out for a couple of days while the practice searched for a full-time nurse. After a short time, Sykes came to realize Lexington Diagnostic was where she needed to be.

Seventeen years later, Sykes provides all of the nursing care at the Center and serves on the practice’s management team. She, and her staff, will take on any challenge, but patient care is her specialty. Her patients often comment on how kind and caring she is, how they felt like they were the only patient Sykes had that day. Her compassion and experience make it possible for her to care for a diverse patient population, including infants, those with special needs, the very ill and elderly.

A mother of two (and grandmother, too), Sykes knows what it’s like to have a sick child and works hard to put parents minds at ease and to answer all questions in a way that is complete, concise and understandable.

The FYI On Your MRI

Open MRI SystemChances are, you or someone you know has needed an MRI scan at some point. We’ve at least all heard of an MRI and might imagine ourselves getting in to that big white tube! But what exactly are we getting ourselves in to? With the help of Paula Bracken, chief radiologic technologist at Lexington Diagnostic Center & Open MRI, let’s explore what you should know, consider, and expect when you need an MRI.

What is an MRI?
As Paula explains, MRI, or magnetic resonance imaging, is a non-invasive scan that uses a large magnet, pulses of radiofrequency waves, and a computer to create detailed, 2D and 3-D images of organs and structures within your body. Physicians often use MRI imaging to diagnose conditions that may not be adequately assessed using other imaging methods such as X-ray, ultrasound or CT scan.

An MRI is often used to:
Examine the joints, brain, spine, nerves, abdominal organs, breasts, reproductive organs and other soft tissues
Assess blood vessels for clots and areas of narrowing
Detect tumors and diagnose many forms of cancer
Evaluate infections
Assess injuries to bones, joints and muscles
Achieve more detailed images than other imaging modalities

MRIs are often preferred over X-rays and CT scans because they don’t emit potentially harmful radiation. Here’s how it works:
1. The MRI scanner is a very strong magnet that is always turned on.
2. Since the body is made up of mostly water, hydrogen protons in the water are utilized to create an image.
3. An antenna is placed around the area of your body to be scanned.
4. You are moved into the magnetic field of the machine and the hydrogen protons go from spinning randomly to aligning with the magnetic field.
5. Radiofrequency pulses are introduced to move the protons into different positions and the antenna listens to the echoes from the protons as they relax.
6. The information is sent to a computer that creates the image.

Where to have your MRI
Many patients go with the flow and have their scan performed at the hospital, not realizing they have options for comfort, convenience, and cost-savings. Paula says she’s proud to provide superior care and quality at LDC. We offer an MRI for every need, and we take care of our patients at a fair price that they’ll find is much less expensive than at other facilities, says Paula.

An MRI for every need
If even just the thought of that big white tube makes you cringe with claustrophobia, rest assured there’s an option for you. You can even have a loved one stay close by for support. That option is also great for little patients who want a parent close by. Lexington Diagnostic Center utilizes modern equipment and procedures to produce the best images possible while ensuring the patient?s comfort. There are three different MRI machine options to accommodate various patient needs and preferences.

In some cases, sedation may be required or requested for the patient. There is no charge for sedation at LDC. You will need to arrange for a driver to take you home.

What to expect and how to prepare:
Talk to your doctor’s referring coordinator or scheduler when your scan is ordered and they can set up your appointment with Lexington Diagnostic Center. LDC will receive your doctor’s orders and will call you to confirm your appointment. Be sure to let LDC know ahead of time if you’ve had a scan of the same area previously at another location so that images can be compared. Paula shares that LDC takes pride in making sure the entire process is easy and convenient for the patient. She says, We make sure patients have their appointment in a timely manner, without hassle, and are made as comfortable as possible while receiving superior image quality.

MRI procedures are performed on an outpatient basis. Eat, drink and take your medications as usual unless instructed otherwise. If you are scheduled for an abdominal MRI, you might be asked to refrain from eating or drinking for two hours prior to your appointment.

For the scan, you’ll be asked to change into a hospital gown and remove any metal items including:
Jewelry
Hairpins
Eyeglasses
Watches
Wigs
Dentures
Hearing aids

The MRI machine is a large, tube-shaped machine that the patient enters while lying comfortably on an exam table. The machine can get loud, so earplugs and headphones are available. The radiology technologist will be close by, keeping you informed and making sure you?re comfortable. You can stop the exam any time to ask questions or express concerns.

Most MRI scans take about 30 minutes to perform for each study. Afterward, the pictures will be reviewed by the radiologist and a report will be sent to your doctor.

Why choose Lexington Diagnostic Center for your MRI?
They are committed to providing the most convenient high-quality MRI imaging services for patients and their physicians. LDC offers:

Ease of scheduling with typically same-week appointments
Board Certified Musculoskeletal Fellowship Trained Radiologists to interpret your results
Highly trained technologists to ensure your comfort and safety
CD of images for each patient to have and share with their healthcare provider
An integrated electronic medical records system that provides your referring physician easy access to your images
Evening and Saturday appointment times
Front door parking

Making Outstanding Care, Superior Quality Convenient and Affordable

When it’s time for an imaging study CT scan, MRI, ultrasound many patients simply go with the flow? in the belief that there are no choices or that all of the choices are essentially the same.

Nothing could be further from the truth!

Lexington Diagnostic Center and Open MRI, located on Harrodsburg Road in Lexington offers patients not only outstanding, personal care but superior quality as well. With full-time board-certified and fellowship-
trained radiologists, experienced, certified technical staff, commitment to the patient and family, and state-of-the-art equipment, Lexington Diagnostic Center is able to deliver a much higher level of care than is available anywhere else.

Diagnostic imaging is all we do, this singular focus allows LDC to schedule patients quickly, conduct tests efficiently, provide outstanding quality and reporting and do it all at a cost significantly less than what patients might pay elsewhere.

Patients are sometimes concerned that imaging studies performed outside a hospital setting won’t be readily available to their physicians, or can’t be compared to previous studies. That is absolutely not a concern. Lexington Diagnostic Center provides an advanced Picture Archiving and Communications System (PACS) which allows the referring physician to access our radiologists reports and imaging studies from their own computers, or even from the surgery suite at the local hospitals.

Further, every patient who has imaging performed at LDC leaves the center that day with a disk containing all of the images captured during the visit. They can take the images directly to their doctor for review and, of course, the images are always archived here at the center for future reference if needed. Patients also have access to all of their study reports from Lexington Diagnostic through a secure internet connection, the Patient Portal.

As for comparing today’s images to those captured months or even years ago, Lexington Diagnostic Center is able to request those images from other medical facilities for comparison purposes continuity of care without issue. We have a courier who runs between all the medical facilities daily picking up imaging studies and returning them here, to the Center, where our radiologists use them to compare today’s studies with any studies performed previously. It is very important we compare our studies to any prior images that have been done before.

There is no charge to the patient for this service and no hassle either. All they need to do is tell us where they had the images taken and when, and we’ll take care of the rest.

It’s one advantage of having imaging done at LDC that many patients really appreciate, she added. Another benefit is how convenient and easy it is to have testing done at Lexington Diagnostic. With evening and Saturday hours, patients never have to wait weeks to have a test scheduled. And when you arrive at the center for testing, you can feel confident that your test will be performed and you’ll be on your way quickly. There are no long waits caused by numerous emergency cases bumping the schedule. Results are reported to the referring physician quickly, typically in less than 72 business hours.

One of the most important considerations for patients receiving care anywhere is cost. Patients at Lexington Diagnostic Center have peace of mind knowing exactly how much their imaging study will cost, and what their out-of-pocket costs will be. Most patients will save hundreds of dollars by choosing to have their MRIs, CTs and other radiology tests performed at LDC instead of the local hospital.

That’s because hospitals have to cover all of that overhead the cafeteria, laundry, parking garages it’s all rolled up into every patient’s bill. At Lexington Diagnostic Center, imaging is the only thing we do. We keep our overhead costs low and that keeps our prices low, too. And the Radiologist fee is included, so you won’t receive an extra bill from the physician.?

Taking advantage of the Lexington Diagnostic Center difference is quite easy. All you have to do is speak up when your doctor orders an imaging procedure for you. Most patients don’t realize they have the right to decide where they’ll go for a test or procedure. When patients fail to express a preference, the doctor’s office will schedule the procedure where it is most convenient for them usually the hospital.

Sometimes patients feel uncomfortable telling physician they need find a less expensive alternative to the hospital. That’s natural. But your doctor should be just as concerned about your financial health as he or she is about your physical health.

Cost transparency is an important part of the Lexington Diagnostic Center patient care philosophy. It’s important for patients to know not only how much a test will cost, but what they will be responsible for in terms of co-pays, deductibles or co-insurance. LDC works with the patient’s insurer to determine the out-of-pocket costs before testing is performed. Patients are informed up front of the total cost, usually at least 48 hours before their appointment. Payment is collected on the day of their imaging appointment.

This means patients never have to worry about getting a bill they didn’t expect 30 or 60 days later. And, unlike hospitals, Lexington Diagnostic’s bill includes the radiologist’s professional fees. There will ever only be one, all-inclusive bill from us. You’ll never receive a bill in the mail later with a fee you didn’t know about.

LDC accepts most all insurance plans, including Medicare and Medicaid. ?We’ve actually had them conference in on the phone with patients to reschedule them from a higher-priced facility to us. We save money for insurance companies and for patients. That’s why it’s so important to shop for healthcare costs. Always call and compare prices.

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