A computer screen in the radiology department displays a dozen x-rays, both from the patient’s medical records, and from today’s visit. With the click of a mouse, Dr. Jeff Peterson selects the most recent one, taken just moments ago, to be enlarged on a neighboring screen. Another click and he zooms in on a suspicious looking area which has been enhanced to show greater detail. Concerned by what he sees, Dr. Peterson sends the image by secure e-mail to a consulting radiologist at another facility. By the time he returns to the clinic, a phone call comes into his office. Dr. Peterson pulls up the image on the computer at his desk and discusses it with his colleague many miles away. A diagnosis is made and the appropriate course of treatment can be taken.

 Cases like this one (fictionalized for the sake of patient privacy) are possible thanks to the latest technology to come to Bridges Medical Center in Ada. The Computer Radiography (CR) and Picture Archiving and Communications System (PACS) replaces traditional x-ray film with digital imaging grids. Images are captured and immediately downloaded to a computer system for review. Instead of waiting for the film to be unloaded and processed in the darkroom, the technician can review the image instantly, much in the way that pictures can be reviewed on the LCD screen of a digital camera. Additional x-rays, if needed, can be taken in rapid succession, greatly reducing a patient’s time in the radiology department.

 The wall-size banks of light boxes have been replaced with computer screens so that a physician can review them from within the radiology department, the emergency room, or in the clinic, or anywhere there is access to Bridges computer system. Images and patient information can even be sent to specialists and consulting professionals in other facilities via secure transmissions.

Another advantage is the ease with which images can be archived and retrieved. For decades, x-rays and other radiographic images have been stored in large file folders in rooms filled with shelving units on rollers. Retrieving an x-ray for comparison or review meant that someone had to physically go to the storage room, find the patient’s folder, and pick through it by hand to find the desired image. If a consultation with someone outside of the facility was desired. The image was copied in the darkroom and sent by courier to the desired destination. The process could take more than an hour if the situation was critical, or days for routine review. Films were also at risk of loss or damage by fire, water, or even to time itself. Now images can be backed-up to on-site or off-site data banks to be retrieved anytime from anywhere (after meeting the security requirements for accessing patient data). Patient files, which consisted of one or more folders of heavy x-ray films, can now be burned onto a single CD or DVD weighing less than an ounce.

The expense of creating and storing images has also been reduced by the elimination of expensive x-ray film and processing chemicals, the cost of courier services,  and the reduction in space lost to storage. Over time, this will help offset the cost of the $95,000 system, which was purchased with the assistance of a $35,000 grant from the Minnesota Department of Health.

The CR/PACS system replaces the film based imaging from x-rays, MRI’s, and CTscans, and will replace the film used in Ultrasound exams sometime in March of this year.

“Bridges has taken another step to narrow the technology gap between rural and urban medicine,” said Bridges Medical Director, Dr. Jeff Peterson, M.D.  “One of our goals is to help people from this region access cutting edge technology and services without having to leave their home community.”